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This is a hard one to pick.
On one hand you have Winky Wright ... a fighter that not only defends against most of what his opponents throw at him, but by doing so he psychologically gut punches his opponents. He's the kind of fighter that can make anyone look bad.
Then you have Paul Williams ... who has the perfect style to fight a defensive boxer like Wright. Williams has solid power. Not great, but solid. Still, he doesn't predicate his style of boxing on his power. The kid is a workhorse. He throws 100 punches per round. He throws impressive combinations from all angles. He wears down his opponents through relentless attrition and honestly ... the kid lands so much so often that his opponents realize that if they don't do something they will be so far behind on the scorecards that they'll need a knockout to win.
Here's the problem:
We don't know how Paul Williams will perform at jr middleweight. We really have no idea. Seven pounds has made or broken fighters before. If he shines at this weight, it could open up new doors for him. If he struggles and looks like the extra weight is cumbersome, then he'll have to go back down.
This makes it difficult to make a pick.
Williams has youth on his side, but the way Wright fights doesn't take a whole bunch of youth to be effective. Wright doesn't have KO power, but Williams has shown that he's susceptible to an overhand left ... and when the pressure is put on him he can be taken out of his game as seen against Quintana.
I guess this boils down to which Williams shows up. I never count Winky out, as he's a hard guy to beat or even look good against, but if Williams shows up in true form and throws 100 punches per round he could win this one on sheer activity. I don't see either man in danger of getting knocked out, but if one were to get in trouble I see it being Wright based on the fact that he rarely stops his opponents, lacks power and isn't nearly as busy as Williams.
Williams has to remember to go to the body, work off of his jab, and he really needs to remember that he doesn't have to constantly force the action. All he has to do is keep busy, attack the body, occasionally head hunt and let his work pay dividends later on.
I'll pick Williams. Wright gets the short end of the stick even when he does win, so I'll lean towards Williams, but not confidently because this is his first venture into the new division.
On one hand you have Winky Wright ... a fighter that not only defends against most of what his opponents throw at him, but by doing so he psychologically gut punches his opponents. He's the kind of fighter that can make anyone look bad.
Then you have Paul Williams ... who has the perfect style to fight a defensive boxer like Wright. Williams has solid power. Not great, but solid. Still, he doesn't predicate his style of boxing on his power. The kid is a workhorse. He throws 100 punches per round. He throws impressive combinations from all angles. He wears down his opponents through relentless attrition and honestly ... the kid lands so much so often that his opponents realize that if they don't do something they will be so far behind on the scorecards that they'll need a knockout to win.
Here's the problem:
We don't know how Paul Williams will perform at jr middleweight. We really have no idea. Seven pounds has made or broken fighters before. If he shines at this weight, it could open up new doors for him. If he struggles and looks like the extra weight is cumbersome, then he'll have to go back down.
This makes it difficult to make a pick.
Williams has youth on his side, but the way Wright fights doesn't take a whole bunch of youth to be effective. Wright doesn't have KO power, but Williams has shown that he's susceptible to an overhand left ... and when the pressure is put on him he can be taken out of his game as seen against Quintana.
I guess this boils down to which Williams shows up. I never count Winky out, as he's a hard guy to beat or even look good against, but if Williams shows up in true form and throws 100 punches per round he could win this one on sheer activity. I don't see either man in danger of getting knocked out, but if one were to get in trouble I see it being Wright based on the fact that he rarely stops his opponents, lacks power and isn't nearly as busy as Williams.
Williams has to remember to go to the body, work off of his jab, and he really needs to remember that he doesn't have to constantly force the action. All he has to do is keep busy, attack the body, occasionally head hunt and let his work pay dividends later on.
I'll pick Williams. Wright gets the short end of the stick even when he does win, so I'll lean towards Williams, but not confidently because this is his first venture into the new division.
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