Jeff Merritt vs. Roy Williams
Posted: 04 Jul 2014, 21:20
Monday ~ March 3, 1969
The Arena ~ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Promoter ~ Lou Lucchese
Attendance; 1676
Gate; $8160
Main Event > Augie Pantellas vs. Gil 'Rocky' Boulay
Roy Williams ~ 9-0 -0 {6 KO's}
vs.
Jeff Merritt ~ 7-1-0 {6 KO's}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Merritt {Age; 22 years, 1 month} travelled from New York to Philadelphia. Jeff was supposed to fight
Philadelphia's Johnny Gause ~ 5-0-0 {5 KO's} in a rematch.
But Johnny, who had KO'd Jeff in {3 Rounds} back in September 1968 had injured himself in training and pulled out.
Enter > Roy Williams ~ 9-0-0 {6 KO's}. Roy {Age 23 years, 11 months} was considered the better overall
fighter despite being a fill-in replacement. The former 1966 Middle Atlantic Golden Gloves Champion was considered
a can't miss prospect.
Roy was the hometown boy, fighting 8-times before at The Arena, and he had a full force of supporters backing him.
Both fighters were 1st-Round KO Artists, with Jeff Merritt having {6} 1st-Round KO's and with Roy Williams scoring
{5} 1st-Round KO's.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fight;
Both sluggers went hard-and-heavy in the 1st Round, with each scoring hard blows. Jeff was a liitle quicker, and
edged out the 1st-Round by scoring some solid punches over the last 20-Seconds.
In Round 2, Jeff came out strong and swung wildly, while Roy waited to counter. Jeff was controlling the session
with effective aggression, until late in the Round when Roy took the offensive and attacked.
Roy landed a few solid blows, and suddenly Jeff wobbled. Roy then moved in, as Jeff backed up to the Ropes.
Both fighters threw punches, but Roy got there first with a solid right-hand to the head. Jeff staggered, and Roy
added in a 4-Punch flurry dropping Jeff along the Ropes.
Jeff got up at the 2-Count, and was able to clear his head to ride out the end of Round 2.
What should have been a collapse was not. Jeff surprisingly regrouped in between Rounds and cleared his head.
In Round 3, Roy slowly stalked as Jeff jabbed and smartly moved. Roy had let his opportunity get away, as he failed
to capitalize.
Jeff took over in Round 4, and easily swept the next 4-Rounds by using long left-jabs and power left-hooks. Roy just
laid back and looked for one-punch. Jeff just completely out-worked Roy by being busier.
In Round 8 {Final Round} Jeff kept using his left-jab to keep Roy off balance, and kept him guessing.
In the end, despite getting floored, Jeff Merritt won a Unanimous 8-Round Decision over Roy Williams in his own backyard.
The Arena ~ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Promoter ~ Lou Lucchese
Attendance; 1676
Gate; $8160
Main Event > Augie Pantellas vs. Gil 'Rocky' Boulay
Roy Williams ~ 9-0 -0 {6 KO's}
vs.
Jeff Merritt ~ 7-1-0 {6 KO's}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Merritt {Age; 22 years, 1 month} travelled from New York to Philadelphia. Jeff was supposed to fight
Philadelphia's Johnny Gause ~ 5-0-0 {5 KO's} in a rematch.
But Johnny, who had KO'd Jeff in {3 Rounds} back in September 1968 had injured himself in training and pulled out.
Enter > Roy Williams ~ 9-0-0 {6 KO's}. Roy {Age 23 years, 11 months} was considered the better overall
fighter despite being a fill-in replacement. The former 1966 Middle Atlantic Golden Gloves Champion was considered
a can't miss prospect.
Roy was the hometown boy, fighting 8-times before at The Arena, and he had a full force of supporters backing him.
Both fighters were 1st-Round KO Artists, with Jeff Merritt having {6} 1st-Round KO's and with Roy Williams scoring
{5} 1st-Round KO's.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fight;
Both sluggers went hard-and-heavy in the 1st Round, with each scoring hard blows. Jeff was a liitle quicker, and
edged out the 1st-Round by scoring some solid punches over the last 20-Seconds.
In Round 2, Jeff came out strong and swung wildly, while Roy waited to counter. Jeff was controlling the session
with effective aggression, until late in the Round when Roy took the offensive and attacked.
Roy landed a few solid blows, and suddenly Jeff wobbled. Roy then moved in, as Jeff backed up to the Ropes.
Both fighters threw punches, but Roy got there first with a solid right-hand to the head. Jeff staggered, and Roy
added in a 4-Punch flurry dropping Jeff along the Ropes.
Jeff got up at the 2-Count, and was able to clear his head to ride out the end of Round 2.
What should have been a collapse was not. Jeff surprisingly regrouped in between Rounds and cleared his head.
In Round 3, Roy slowly stalked as Jeff jabbed and smartly moved. Roy had let his opportunity get away, as he failed
to capitalize.
Jeff took over in Round 4, and easily swept the next 4-Rounds by using long left-jabs and power left-hooks. Roy just
laid back and looked for one-punch. Jeff just completely out-worked Roy by being busier.
In Round 8 {Final Round} Jeff kept using his left-jab to keep Roy off balance, and kept him guessing.
In the end, despite getting floored, Jeff Merritt won a Unanimous 8-Round Decision over Roy Williams in his own backyard.
