Danny Williams: ‘I hope I don’t have to fight again'

[Sklar]

I drove past a highly regarded boarding school this morning (not with my long mack on I hasten to add) out in the sticks. As I passed there was a caravan of sixth formers doing a traditional cross country run, not a single one of them was loafing, they all looked keen and there wasn't a fatty amongst them, it was a sight to behold. I know that sending kids out running doesn't cost much in monetary terms but the value is inestimable, what a great way to start the week to blow off the cobwebs after the weekend. Character building stuff.

[Sklar]

Wow, kids going for a run They never do that in other schools. You've made me change my mind, all fee-paying schools must be brilliant then. I don't know why I've never seen it before now.

Do they do cross country at state schools now? I didn't think they did (I don't mean a lap or two round the sports field BTW).

[Crease]

After reading the article, it is saddening...

But in all honesty, boxing is the WRONG sport to be saying "just one more payday" to yourself. He could get permanently injured.

[Teddy's Toupee]

What do you make of the "free schools" mercman? I get the impression some failing fee-paying schools are getting in on the act so they can suckle at the taxpayers' teat for a guaranteed income without having to improve in any way.

[Sklar]

This may surprise mercman but I do think the state should have oversight of all schools and have the power to takeover where necessary. It's unlikely there'd ever be a requirement for the better schools to be messed with but some of the madrassas, for example, need extremely close scrutiny.

[stevedoc]

Is danny still living in brixton ?..if so I can see why he'd want his girls going to a fee paying school but why not move half an hour away where the schools are better . I worked in a warehouse when I was 18 and packer there had been to private school which would cost 15k a year today and he was 24 packing boxes in a warehouse after having a fortune spent on his education. The sad thing is I bet his girls are now embarrassed about him getting KO'd all the time and they'd rather he worked on a door somewhere

[Noxy]

People, I know this is a boxing forum but let's not get too personal about Danny and his family. They do what they do and it's up to them at the end of the day. Danny is past his best, but if he can get licensed it's up to him whether he uses it or not same as any other fighter.

[ILikeBeer]

IT’S been almost 11 years since Danny Williams knocked out Mike Tyson in a huge upset.

[ILikeBeer]

Said it before, but Danny Williams needs to get a book out. Should've done it after beating Tyson, it'd made him a few quid when he had the fame.

It'd be packed with interesting stories. Beating Tyson, and getting spanked by Klitschko are the two most obvious ones. But he's also won a fight with a dislocated shoulder, had a rivalry with a gold medal winner in Audley Harrison (which was more interesting than the first fight between the two), been British Champion on a couple of occasions, been booed and had 'cheat' shouted at him on his second fight with Sprott, toured Europe at the end of his career with a non-British work permit. I bet he's got some tales to tell, and it'd be interesting to read.

I dunno how much wonga he'd make off of it, but it'd be an income that doesn't involve him getting spanked.

[Benelio]

I half think that someone should set up some sort of fundraiser to raise a decent amount of £££ to stop him from boxing again.

Never would happen... but hypothetically, if it did, and miraculously managed to raise about 400k .. then Danny would be paid 40k from the fund every year for 10 years, on the agreement that he does not box. The minute he boxes, the deal is terminated.

40k is obviously not enough to take care of an entire family and keep them in private school, but if Danny took up a regular (non boxing) job he should be able to top that up by at least another 20k.

[ILikeBeer]

Another thought occurs.

A few years back, Eurosport showed Evander Holyfield's fight with Sherman Williams. (Non-live, of course.) Danny William was doing commentary. I wonder if there's any more employment for him that way. Talking rubbish on Eurosport.

[ILikeBeer]

I half think that someone should set up some sort of fundraiser to raise a decent amount of £££ to stop him from boxing again.

Never would happen... but hypothetically, if it did, and miraculously managed to raise about 400k .. then Danny would be paid 40k from the fund every year for 10 years, on the agreement that he does not box. The minute he boxes, the deal is terminated.

40k is obviously not enough to take care of an entire family and keep them in private school, but if Danny took up a regular (non boxing) job he should be able to top that up by at least another 20k.

Not sure it would happen.

I mean, he's not got a life threatening illness or anything. It's his own choice to send his kid's to private school, after all.

That's not me being harsh to Danny. I'd love to see something like what you suggested happen. Get Danny safe, and out of the ring for good. But the people organising it might take the view that a guy sending his kids to a good school isn't worthy of a charity fund raiser.

[palooka]

Yeah, I'd like to send my son to Eton and I'm willing to do a human cannonball across a deep ravine to pay for it but if any nice kind people want to stump up the £30,000 a year for my son I'll stay out of the cannon.

[bripez]

Yeah, I'd like to send my son to Eton and I'm willing to do a human cannonball across a deep ravine to pay for it but if any nice kind people want to stump up the £30,000 a year for my son I'll stay out of the cannon.

Exactly.

I don't how much Williams has earned in his career (bet (actually I hope) that it is more money than I have earned) or what he has spent his money on, but I don't think asking people to donate money is reasonable.

For all I know he could have earned £ millions and spent it all on coke and prozzies - that is fair enough, just don't expect me to donate my hard earned to send his kids to a posh school.

[Exoddus]

I heard Danny doesn't even wrap his hands anymore. I remember Danny Williams on Euro Sport commentating on David Tua vs Demetrice King. I can't believe that was almost 4 years ago. He did a decent job. Commentating is something you grow into.

A Danny Williams autobiography (even ghost written) would make a decent pay-day. There would be plenty of people out there wanting to buy it.

[Coco]

Danny is his own man, doing what he has to for his family, he doesn't ask anyone for anything, you gotta respect the fella.

[Teddy's Toupee]

By the way, Teddy there's a nice little book by Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley called The Great Reversal that you might like. Basically, its argument is that the state education system is currently undergoing a 'death by a thousand cuts' but that the Tories ultimate aim is to turn the clock back to when the Church and private and voluntary organisations were the key providers of education across England rather than the state (ie the pre-1870 model). I think you can download it either free or very cheaply from their Radicaled website.

I never read any books published after "Das Kapital" I'm afraid.

[danconnollyeire]

So why, with 20+ years in government since their introduction, haven't the Tories scrapped the comprehensive system and re-introduced the 11 Plus along with secondary moderns, Tuan Jim?

Probably because the comprehensive school failure has been hugely beneficial to the Tories. It keeps the scum stupid and in their place, while a real education is affordable only to the super privileged. I.e. their ilk. Plus the mass idiocy of state school educated kids is handily obfuscated through grade inflation to prevent widespread embarrassment. Have you seen a syllabus say from the 1950s, compared to what kids are taught now? I don't think a lot of men today in their 20s and 30s could pass an 11-plus. Meanwhile a Chinese 11 year old could probably ace British A levels with his eyes closed, and then win a 6 round decision over Danny Williams just for good measure.

Nail on head

[revporl]

When I was teaching FE ICT classes I met a Polish lad who was doing a Computer Science degree at Manchester Uni and he said he found it easy as he had covered most of the curriculum at school in Poland when he was about 15 or 16. Doesn't say much for either our uni's or schools.
I run a small web development business now and get graduating students sending me their CV's and the skill level is usually lower than you would need to practically work in the industry, they spend 3 years getting in debt when they could learn more experimenting and googling stuff (which is what I did!). Education is a racket.

Anyway, I feel sorry for DW but he should retire before his daughters end up having to support him.

[Controversial]

When I was teaching FE ICT classes I met a Polish lad who was doing a Computer Science degree at Manchester Uni and he said he found it easy as he had covered most of the curriculum at school in Poland when he was about 15 or 16. Doesn't say much for either our uni's or schools.
I run a small web development business now and get graduating students sending me their CV's and the skill level is usually lower than you would need to practically work in the industry, they spend 3 years getting in debt when they could learn more experimenting and googling stuff (which is what I did!). Education is a racket.

Anyway, I feel sorry for DW but he should retire before his daughters end up having to support him.

I agree with mercman. Some degrees are pointless but if you get into the right field you could be earning big bucks. Someone I know is studying for a degree whilst working. The firm are paying for his degree and give him time off work to study. He's only in his early 20s and they are already paying him almost 30k a year, when he passes his exams thats likely to double. I wish I got 30k at his age !!! How many school leavers without qualifications earn that much, most would be lucky to earn that in their 40s.

[ILikeBeer]

Maybe he should stop eating Mr. Kipling. That'd save him a couple of grand a month.

[freddydoesdallas]

When I was teaching FE ICT classes I met a Polish lad who was doing a Computer Science degree at Manchester Uni and he said he found it easy as he had covered most of the curriculum at school in Poland when he was about 15 or 16. Doesn't say much for either our uni's or schools.
I run a small web development business now and get graduating students sending me their CV's and the skill level is usually lower than you would need to practically work in the industry, they spend 3 years getting in debt when they could learn more experimenting and googling stuff (which is what I did!). Education is a racket.

Anyway, I feel sorry for DW but he should retire before his daughters end up having to support him.

Come on, kids won't be covering the same ground at school in Poland as on computer science degrees in the UK, especally at places like Manchester which is one of the country's leading universities. Computer science degrees offer those graduating from them some of the best employment opportunities available in today's labour market, if any degree is worth the investment its one of those. My nephew has just started his first job after graduating with a 1st in Computer Science from Newcastle University last summer. He's working for a really go-ahead little outfit in Edinburgh who have started him on nearly £40K a year (not bad for a young lad in his twenties, is it?), although he also had job offers from firms in London, the USA, Norway and Hong Kong. Would he have been offered such work without his degree? No.

Leaving that aside, school standards in Poland are well below those in the UK and Poland is, in the main, a low-skill, low-pay economy. That's why there are so many Poles here - although most are not computer scientists, they're waiting on tables, stacking shelves and working on building sites (not that that makes them bad people, it's just the way it is). There's a load of nonsense talked about education in Britain, it's standards are amongst the highest in the world and those which are more advanced are, in the main, other rich economies such as Norway, Germany and Japan. Not places like Poland.

The hype around the standards of education in this country are unreal. The way we are set up is envied all over the world and if you achieve a qualification here, it is recognised all over the world as being amongst the very best.

I work in education with industry to provide qualifications that will develop the skills necessary to be part of a specific industry. The main problem with this at the moment is the regard that vocational skills are held in due to constant criticism by the government and the media. Vocational qualifications and apprenticeships are seen as the poor relation to degrees for those people who are not academically able. Qualifications are worth nothing to schools without performance points. Who assigns the performance points? Government agencies following policies that want to remove vocational qualifications as an option for 14-19 year olds.

[Finn]

Bit unfair of Williams to put the potential blame for any ill health he suffers in the future on his kids.

I'm sure they'll feel great after reading his interview if he dies in the ring or ends up with brain damage.

[palooka]

my son wants a new bike and if I fall off a ladder cleaning windows he's gonna hear about it for the rest of his life (he's 8).

[wesshaw1985]

I wonder if somebody can get a sit down interview with Danny organised.
Wouldn't mind seeing a Ringside on his career or even if the IFL TV lads got hold of him for an hour.
Ive been a big fan since seeing him beat Tyson and I've never heard anybody have a bad word to say about the fella...