For some odd reason I was thinking about Paul Williams early this morning. My first thought was that he is like one of the fighters in Punch-Out. At first it is seemingly difficult, but then you find the one glaring weakness. Yet, I started to question if this weakness was readily exploitable by everyone at junior middleweight. Both Erislandy Lara and Sergio Martinez are highly skilled technicians, I'm not sure that other prominent fighters in the division could readily exploit Williams's weakness to the overhand right. In that spirit, I would like to look at some potentially exciting matchups for Tall Paul.
Saul Alvarez
This would be a great potential matchup. Paul Williams would be Canelo's toughest challenge so far in his career. The constant pressure and high punch output will provide a great test for the young fighter. However, Paul Williams has proven to be a chinny fighter at times and Canelo is a very powerful fighter. Also, I feel like Canelo is young enough to develop a decent overhand right specifically for this fight. This matchup provides a some risk for the young Canelo, but if he is as good as his potential, he should be able to win this fight with relative ease.
James Kirkland
James is on his last shot at greatness so why not go after some exciting competition. Both fighters are volume punchers who absolutely hate the concept of defense, which usually leads to fan-friendly fights. When Ann Wolfe is in his corner, James will never stop punching. Paul can win this fight if he keeps to the outside and fights tall. Yet, Paul never seems to take advantage of his height. He always lets smaller fighters get to the inside because he lunges forward when he punches. This fight would be a closer fight than the Alvarez fight, but I still think that Wolfe will give James a winning gameplan.
I like Paul Williams because he is a tragic figure; tremendous upside, yet fundamentally flawed. His physical tools and high stamina generally makes for a difficult fight unless his opponents can accurately and repeatedly land the overhand right. The potential fight against Canelo will give us an indication of how much talent Canelo has. The fight with James Kirkland will give us a fan friendly bout and another chance to see the fantastic combination of Wolfe and Kirkland. Honestly, I love both of these fights so much that I cannot choose which one I like better, so I'll leave it to you guys. Which of these potential fights do you guys prefer?