Livefight interview: former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Danny Williams talks about his eventful career and fighting Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko
“I was more nervous before my third fight with Sprott than I was for Tyson” Danny Williams
By Michael J. Jones
THE career of Brixton’s Danny Williams is one that has both thrilled and frustrated British fight fans. The former British and Commonwealth champion provided many thrills and spills during his topsy-turvy, 17-year boxing career. In 55 pro fights Williams, now 38-years-old, has reigned twice apiece as both British and Commonwealth champion as well as being one of only five men that ever bested former world champion “Iron” Mike Tyson.
At his very best, Williams, currently 44-11 (33), was a talented boxer-puncher with a good chin and great skills for a big man. At 6ft 3ins and around 260lbs, Danny scored some fantastic wins in his career; twice stopping Michael Sprott, brushing aside future world title challenger Kali Meehan in just 32 seconds as well as that stunning come-from-behind stoppage of Tyson.
Retiring after a two-round drubbing by Dereck Chisora in 2010, Williams ignored advice to stay retired to return for a series of bouts in Europe last year, winning two out of four. Danny, a very likable and honest guy, is scheduled to return for one last contest this coming June in Hungary when he boxes a return with former stoppage victim Zoltan Petranyi for the UBO European title.
Danny, as brave in the ring as he was erratic, plans to walk away for good from the sport now that he has qualified as a “Close Protection Officer”, meaning he can work in security carrying a firearm.
I caught up with Danny recently to discuss his long career. Here’s what he had to say-
LF) So Danny, it’s a rematch with Zoltan Petranyi next in June. Will that be your last fight?
DW) Yes I want to leave boxing for good with a win and a title. I’ve just been passed out as a Close Protection Officer, so that should keep me busy away from the ring. I’ve been boxing since I was six or seven, so I need to keep busy with regular work and then I won’t be tempted back in the ring. Recently I’ve been ironing, picking the kids up from school; I’ve been like a housewife!
LF) Going right back to the start of your career, you were a stand-out amateur expected to go on to big things as a pro. You didn’t disappoint, racing to 15-0 (12), but in your first big test you were edged by Julius Francis for the British title. Looking back, do you think that fight came too soon for you?
DW) No, I don’t think so. It was the right time but I just froze in there. I used to spar Francis and beat him easily but before that fight the pressure was unbelievable. Everyone was saying I was going to be a future world champion and it all got to me. Mentally, I wasn’t able to deal with that pressure. The first four rounds, it was like I was in a daze, he won those rounds easy and at the end I knew he’d won.
LF) You came back from your first defeat strongly beating tough Harry Senior for the vacant Commonwealth title before engaging in an unforgettable contest with Mark Potter. You fought much of the bout with a dislocated right shoulder, were trailing on the scorecards, yet pulled out a miracle KO in the sixth; can you remember what you were thinking coming out for that sixth round?
DW) All I remember thinking was I had to knock him out. I was a long way behind; the referee had deducted points from me so I knew he was far in front. My shoulder popped out in the fourth round but it popped itself back in and it was fine again. In the sixth it ‘went’ again so I started boxing with just my left hand and was actually boxing better than when I had both arms working! I caught him with a big hook-come-uppercut to stop him. I’m the only fighter in the history of boxing to win a title fight with a dislocated shoulder so I’m very proud of that win. That was one of the proudest moments of my career.
LF) One win that stands out after the Potter victory was a 32-second knockout of Australian contender Kali Meehan. That was some win when you consider what Meehan went on to achieve, pushing Lamon Brewster and a few others at world level?
DW) Yeah many people think he deserved to beat Brewster (for the WBO title) and he also only recently took Ruslan Chagaev the distance. I was up for that fight though. After the Potter fight, I needed surgery on my shoulder and everyone was saying how Meehan was knocking everybody out and how it was the wrong fight to come back with after I’d had surgery but it just spurred me on. I came out (in the fight) and gave it to him. I actually knocked him out with the bad hand everyone was worrying about (laughs).
LF) In your next few contests you avenged your loss to Francis, stopped Michael Sprott and looked terrific out-pointing Keith Long to win the Lonsdale belt outright. It made your next defeat all the more shocking when Sinan Samil Sam stopped you for the European title in Germany. Did you underestimate him in hindsight?
DW) No not really, he was just a good fighter and the better man on the night.
LF) Let’s talk now about your trilogy with Michael Sprott. You beat him comfortable in the first fight in which he took at late notice. Sprott then went on an eight-fight winning streak and was looking brilliant in every fight. It’s fair to say the second and third fights were very controversial?
DW) Yes they were. The second fight he was doing really well against me, he was out-boxing me but I could feel him weakening. I was hitting him to the body and he kept complaining, even if they weren’t low. In the fifth I hit him just on the belt-line and he grabbed his cup and turned to complain to the ref and I knocked him out with a big left hook. It’s like the ref says “protect yourself at all times”, it was similar to the fight with Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz.
The third fight only happened because (Sprott and his team) complained so much about the first fight. I thought I thoroughly out-boxed him and won but they gave it to him by a point. I was shocked; even Sprott said to me after the decision was announced that I’d won. He denied it afterwards but I know what he said.
LF) You lost your titles to Sprott, won a couple of fights by stoppage before getting the call to fight Mike Tyson in Louisville, Kentucky. Talk me through the build up to that fight, what was on your mind leading up to the bout?
DW) Well before that fight I had no title so I took a couple of fights at late notice. I beat a guy for the WBU Intercontinental title and I was just waiting for another opportunity. I wasn’t expecting any favours without having a title.
I jumped at the chance to fight Tyson; we set up camp in America with the sole intention of preparing for war.
LF) You’ve had well-documented problems with pre-fight nerves; how did you deal with them facing a guy like Tyson?
DW) People misunderstand what I say about nerves. I’ve never had a problem with having confidence in my abilities, but the expectation is what gave me the nerves. I was more nervous before my third fight with Sprott than I was for Tyson. The reason being, for Sprott, because I’d already stopped him twice I was expected to win but for Tyson there was no expectancy at all. Most people thought I’d turn up and get wiped out in one or two rounds. With fighting Mike I had absolutely no nerves because nobody expected me to win.
LF) He hurt you in the first and won the first three sessions but you opened up in the fourth and he fell apart dramatically. Were you surprised at how he came apart so suddenly?
DW) I wasn’t surprised when I stopped him, I was over 19st and each round I could feel his punches weakening. I think the difference was he’d prepared for a one or two round blow-out but I was ready for a war. I started catching him and I just kept the punches coming until he’d had enough.
He came out in the first and the thing that shocked me was the speed of his punches. He caught me with an uppercut and I was badly shaken, really hurt. I didn’t even see most of the punches coming they were that fast. He was just an amazing fighter even then.
LF) Would you say that was your best fight?
DW) Probably that or my fight with Shawn Robinson (on the undercard of the third meeting between Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz). I stopped him in the second, the final knock-down was from three left uppercuts in a row. You don’t see many heavyweights doing that, throwing shots like that. I was happy with that performance.
LF) Have you ever met up with Mike Tyson since the fight?
DW) No never. I still get asked about that fight every day by all kinds of people. I think that’s why I’m always being offered fights when I’m past my best; they want to beat the man that beat Mike Tyson.
When I heard Mike’s daughter died tragically a few years ago I sent a message through his agent offering my sincerest condolences. I got a message back thanking me from Mike. That’s the only time we’ve had any interaction since the fight.
LF) Off the back of that famous victory you received a shot at Vitali Klitschko’s WBC title. Your confidence must have been high after the Tyson win but Vitali proved too much, stopping you in eight. Was he just too good?
DW) I fought the wrong fight against Vitali but it also shocked me how good he was. He looks poor when you see him on tape; hands low, chin high in the air, slow, cumbersome, but he was really a great fighter. I couldn’t hit him at all and the things he was doing in there were hard to deal with. He also hit really hard, even with the glancing blows.
I lost but he’s shown how good a fighter he is since that fight, coming back from four years out to beat Sam Peter and staying unbeaten since.
LF) Most fans were worried about you after the Tyson and Klitschko fights as you’d taken a lot of punishment in both contests but you had a great year or so afterwards taking the unbeaten records of both Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton?
DW) In one sense I did well but, honestly, I was never the same after the Klitschko fight. I was sparring guys and kidding myself. Fighters I’d have played with before were doing a lot better against me and I was saying “they’ve improved a lot.” They hadn’t, it was me getting worse. Every fight after Vitali I wasn’t the same. Since about 2006 I’ve been ‘shot’. I was due to fight Sam Sexton a couple of years ago and I said to him at a press conference “you are fighting a shot fighter.” He said I was kidding him but I meant it.
LF) That’s very honest from a fighter?
DW) Well I’m an honest person, I’m honest with myself. When I came back last year I wasn’t kidding myself, I’m miles past my best.
LF) You never seemed to be trash-talking opponents or getting in their faces but you seemed to genuinely dislike Audley Harrison?
DW) I think everyone felt the same about him back then. He just rubs people up the wrong way, he gets in front of the cameras and there’s no humbleness there at all. Some fighters are like that, they can be acting normal but put them in from of TV cameras and they completely change, trying to be like Muhammad Ali. Audley was a cool guy but not when he was being interviewed on TV.
LF) You beat Harrison on a split decision and then did the same to Skelton the fight after. You fought a rematch with Matt Skelton and lost on points after coming in 19lbs heavier for the rematch. Giving that you hurt Matt in the dying seconds of the first fight, did you bulk-up thinking you could stop him at the heavier weight?
DW) Yeah a 100%, I thought if I was heavier I’d stop him. Also I was taking Creatine because I was struggling so much in training I started taking supplements. My recovery after sessions was terrible so I was taking the Creatine to give me a boost but, although I felt better, I was piling on the weight. Come the fight with Skelton I was over 20st; I could hardly move! I basically gave that fight away.
LF) A while after that fight you stepped in at late notice to take on Harrison for a second time. He stopped you in three rounds, was that mainly because of the short notice in your opinion?
DW) I wasn’t in ring condition, you could tell that from the shape I was in. I wasn’t fully fit but I still feel now, if I’d have met the Harrison of the first fight, I’d have won (the second bout). If he’d have come out, tapped me and ran like in the first fight, I’d have beaten him. I only took the fight on four or five days notice (after Matt Skelton had pulled out injured) but he still did great against me. Audley was sharp the second fight, he boxed like a world-beater.
LF) You came back to beat Scott Gammer to reclaim your British title and then had a few fights around Europe. The bout with Konstantin Airich in Spain stands out; you came off the floor to beat him in an exciting bout?
DW) That was a crazy fight, we were both down, I also had a standing count. The promoter of the show even rang the bell early at the end of the sixth to stop Airich being knocked out (laughs). I stopped him in the next but it was a crazy fight.
LF) After that fight you seemed to struggle in every fight; edging John McDermott on points, getting stopped by Albert Sosnowski, squeaking by McDermott again before losing to Carl Baker in Prizefighter. Most were of the impression you were a bad loss away from retiring and you suffered it against Dereck Chisora, who stopped you in two rounds to lift the British title?
DW) A long time before Chisora I knew I wasn’t the same. That was probably one of my most embarrassing performances losing to Dereck. At that time, even though I knew I wasn’t the same fighter, I had it in my head I wanted to prove I could still beat these young guys coming through. I looked at the other fighters through young eyes, thought I could still beat them but I was fooling myself.
I remember after I fought McDermott my Dad took me to one side and told me I had to retire. Robert Smith (from the British boxing board of control) also said the same. I’m just a stubborn guy, I wouldn’t walk away.
LF) Jim McDonnell trained you for many years, are you still in contact with him?
DW) Yeah we still talk and are good friends. I started training myself after the Gammer fight but we stayed friends, he’s a proper guy is Jim.
LF) What are your thoughts on the current heavyweight scene in the UK?
DW) I think the UK scene is in very good shape at the moment. I thought Chisora looked great against Vitali, he really pushed him and in another year or so could win the world title.
I think David Price has been superb; he’s got really good punching power. If he keeps doing what he’s doing he could go far.
Tyson Fury really impressed me last time out. To box as a southpaw and stop Martin Rogan like that was incredible. He stayed southpaw the whole fight and even when Rogan clipped him, he kept his composure and kept his boxing together so that was very impressive to me.
LF) If you came out for the fight in June against Petranyi and knocked him out in one round, would it tempt you to carry on boxing?
DW (Laughs) I’d be tempted to come back even if I lost! I love boxing, I’ve done it since I was knee-high. In the past I’ve struggled finding things to do to occupy myself. When you are in that position and you get offered fights, it’s hard to turn them down. With this new qualification, I’m hoping to get busy now so I’m never tempted back into the ring again.
I need to get boxing out of me for good, for my family. I’ve been with my wife Zoe-Browne for 20 years. We have two children who are thirteen and eight. The things I’m the most proudest of in my life are the fights with Potter and Tyson and being with my partner for 20 years.
Danny Williams startling victory over Mark Potter with one arm :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1jzjTjIhY
The Williams who smoked Bob Mivrovic had talent, skill and could turn on world class skills.