I saw this on Youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKYXOgCkn2Y

... and it got me thinking about Danny Williams career. Firstly its a great video, shows danny getting daobolically brutalized but also shows that he had a proper grit. So in the twilight of his career, lets reflect on how he did overall. Was he a talented prospect ruined by poor training and mental problems, or was he just an average fighter with a big heart who got a win over knackered version of Mike Tyson?

First time I recall seeing Williams was when he beat Mark Potter with an arm hanging out of its socket dangling limp at his side. It made the sports news and tabloid back pages at the time. I'm sure Williams was considered a good prospect back then, even after his loss to Julius Francis. After that i remember seeing him knock out a guy with a triple-uppercut, which to this day is one of the most savage knockouts I've ever witnessed. So what went wrong?

Sinan Samil Sam completely humiliated him, thats one of the nastiest and most uncomfortable fights I've ever seen. He got a worse beating that night than he did against Vitali Klitschko. After that he looked a bit ruined, Micheal Sprott completely outboxed him in their 2nd fight, Mike danced rings round Danny and got knocked out by the shadiest knockout. Sprott was lowblowed, so he turned to the ref to draw attention to it, Danny Williams saw him and loaded up with a monster right hand, knocking Sprott out cold.

Its also weird that it was after this, when Williams looked well past it and unable to get into shape that he pulls off his biggest win. I dont care how old Tyson was or how knackered his knee was, Danny showed bollocks to get through that onslaught and win. To trade toe-to-toe with Tyson, beat him at his own game, and shrug off all his biggest shots was never done to Tyson by anyone else. Everyone else ground him down over time. Holy and buster ground him down over distance. Lennox took it easy for the first 4 rounds of their fight and draped himself all over Tyson, cutting out all Tyson inside work. But Danny Williams fought Tyson fire-wth-fire.

also, there is no better example of suicidal guts and pride more punishing that Klitschko - Williams. Stupid fight, shame on Klitschko's people for even taking it. They knew danny, they knew he wasn't gonnda stand a chance. What a cop out, a total mismatch, but at least it showed that in terms of pure heart, there isn't many out there who can match Danny Williams.

Looking back, could he have ever won a world title with a bit of luck? Or was he always british title level?