Williams to stay busy with middleweight bout on Vs.

In Dan Rafael's most recent notebook, he notes that WBO welterweight titleholder Paul Williams will be having a stay-busy fight later this month to be broadcast on the Versus Network.

While it's notable that Versus is broadcasting another fight that people might actually care about, the really intriguing thing is that Williams will be fighting at middleweight for the bout. Though it's unlikely that Williams will face anyone particularly dangerous, he may be auditioning his body for an eventual move up the ladder to 160 pounds, where he could stay for good. There were negotiations earlier this year, of course, for Williams to take on middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.

On the same card from San Jacinto, Calif., Chris Arreola will take on 38-year old tomato can Israel Garcia in a heavyweight bout. If Williams and Arreola win as expected, they will reunite for a card on HBO in November.