Danny Williams (boxer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other persons of the same name, see Danny Williams.
| Danny Williams | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Daniel Williams |
| Nickname | Brixton Bomber |
| Weight | Heavyweight |
| Nationality |  English |
| Birth date | July 13, 1973 |
| Birth place | London, England |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 39 |
| Wins | 35 |
| Wins by KO | 29 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Daniel Williams (born July 13, 1973, London, England) is an English professional heavyweight boxer, and former Commonwealth champion. Williams' trainer is Jimmy McDonnell and his manager is Frank Warren, who is arguably one of Europe's most important boxing managers. In 1999, whilst in Turkey as a Christian, he heard the Muslim call for prayer, the adhaan. This led him to find out more on Islam, to which he then converted.
Williams' most notable fight was on July 31, 2004, at the Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, when he knocked out (a far past prime) Mike Tyson in the fourth round. On December 11, 2004, he lost to WBC world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in a world title bout, by an eighth round knockout.
In July 2005, Williams failed to show up for his scheduled British heavyweight championship fight against Matt Skelton. Promoter Frank Warren commented that Williams "had lost his bottle" and should retire. Williams cited ill health.
Redemption of sorts came when he beat Audley Harrison in a split decision for the Commonwealth heavyweight title on 10 December 2005. Harrison and Williams have long enjoyed a war of words in the media since the former turned pro.
Williams was part of an angle that nearly got out of hand, in British professional wrestling promotion Frontier Wrestling Alliance. It started when FWA star and company head Alex Shane informed the crowd that Danny's agent had banned him from taking part in any sort of wrestling angle in the company, Alex Shane then claimed he was going to grab as much publicity as he could and began to insult Danny and his entourage. Williams genuinely appeared to lose his cool when, as he walked away, Shane called him "gay boy" and spat at his teenage brother-in-law, inciting a pull-apart brawl. The fracas, that nearly ended up in disaster at the FWA show, made it to the Daily Mirror newspaper and national news programmes.
On 25 February 2006 Danny beat Matt Skelton on a split decision at the ExCel Arena. Many onlookers, thought Matt Skelton had won but Danny prevailed on points. Others argued that some of Skelton's tactics during the fight (perhaps stemming from his kickboxing background) should have earned him penalties that would have resulted in a majority decision for Williams. Either way, this was a controversial fight.
Between the first and second bout with Skelton, Danny Williams went on to defeat a German-based Turkish fighter Adnan Serin via a 3-round TKO.
On 8th July 2006, Danny Williams lost his Commonwealth Heavyweight title to Matt Skelton via unanimous decision at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. This was part of ITVs "Big Fight Live". The loss once again brings into question Williams' dedication to training. Unfortunately, Danny was unable to control his lust for Mr. Kiplings pies, He turned up for the fight, tipping the scales at over 280 pounds. Williams routinely insists that he intentionally comes to fight heavier, to hold his own against bigger men. However, this tactic has backfired in both the second fight with Skelton as well as the fight with Klitschko where he was convincingly defeated by the Ukrainian. Danny Williams was unable to use mobility to avoid punches or catch up with his opponents. Questions can also be raised about whether Williams actually weighed in heavy. He has previously admitted to tying weights to his feet during weigh ins to play mind games with his opponents. A notable example of this was when he pulled out of fighting Skelton the first time after weighing in close to 280 pounds.
Williams is currently the mandatory challenger for the British Heavyweight Championship, this title is currently held by Scott Gammer and the pair were scheduled to fight in October 2006. Williams withdrew from the fight on this date as it coincided with Ramadan. The fight has reportedly been rescheduled for the 9 February 2007 in Aberavon.
