Former two-time WBO welterweight champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams will attempt to kick-start his stalling career when he takes on Nobuhiro Ishida this Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The 6’2” Williams was once one of the most feared fighters in the world and regularly avoided by his peers, but since his crushing second-round knockout at the hands of Sergio Martinez in 2010, Williams has fought just once, and in winning a highly controversial majority decision over Cuban Erislandy Lara,  looked a shadow of his once formidable self. His opponent on Saturday should offer him little respite - Ishida is a cagey veteran who has some form when it comes to pulling off shock upsets – he knocked out red-hot prospect James Kirkland in one round last year.

 

30-year-old Augusta born Paul Williams (40-2, 27 KOs) should by all accounts be up there with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto as a multi-titled boxing overachiever with millions in his bank account. The reality is that few fighters in recent boxing history have been avoided by boxing’s elite like Williams has. A natural welterweight despite his huge frame, Williams fought at 147 lbs for the first eight years of his career, winning the WBO welterweight title with a comprehensive points win over Antonio Margarito in 2007.

 

His reign as champion was temporarily interrupted in 2008 when he dropped a decision to the highly talented Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana, but Williams made amends in the rematch, crushing Quintana in one round. So impressive was Williams, it had a negative effect on his career – the premier welterweights of the time – Mayweather, Mosley, Cotto and Zab Judah – all avoided him like the plague.

 

By October of 2008 Williams was competing as a light middleweight and another crushing first round knockout, this time over Andy Kolle was followed by big victories over established stars like Verno Phillips and Ronald “Winky” Wright. His victory over Wright was possibly the highlight of his career thus far – defeating a marquee name fighter and former pound-for-pound no.1 by a landslide decision.

 

In December 2009, Williams was to meet the man who would become his nemesis – Argentina’s Sergio Martinez. Martinez was the WBC light middleweight champion, but their fight was made middleweight, and was a sensational affair that saw both fighters hit the canvas in the first round and then wage war thereafter. After 12 rounds Williams was adjudged to have won a majority decision, but to many it was Martinez who had emerged as a new boxing superstar.

 

Ironically, it was Martinez who subsequently earned a crack at Kelly Pavlik’s WBC middleweight title. The Argentinian grabbed his opportunity with both hands, pummeling Pavlik from pillar to post to win a unanimous decision.

 

In November 2010, Martinez gave Williams first crack at his new title. The first round was close, but the Argentinian looked physically far stronger than in their first fight. In the second round Martinez attempted a looping overhand left several times but missed the target. On his fourth attempt, he connected, and Williams fell - poleaxed. It was both the knockout and the punch of 2010, and for Williams’s career it was an unmitigated disaster.

 

Last July Williams attempted to get his career back on track by taking on the undefeated Cuban Erislandy Lara. Although Williams looked in great shape and threw plenty of punches during the fight, the Cuban caught him time again with the same looping overhand right that Martinez had used to such devastating effect. Had Lara been blessed with the same crunching power as the Argentinian, is could have been another early exit for the American.

 

After 12 rounds, the HBO commentary team were unanimous in their conviction that Williams had lost badly, and even the great Roy Jones Jr stated that he hoped Williams would call it a career - ironic considering how Jones of all people seems to find doing just that an impossibility.

In one of the worst calls of 2011, Williams was awarded a majority decision victory. The fighter looked genuinely embarrassed as the result was announced, amid a crescendo of boos from ringside.

 

Despite his performance, Williams is still rated highly by most of the world governing bodies. He is currently ranked third by the WBA, and seventh by both the WBC and WBO.

 

On Saturday night Williams will get a chance to put himself back in the world title picture against 36-year-old Nobuhiro Ishida (24-6-2, 9 KOs) of Japan. Ishida is currently ranked second by the WBA, so the fight with Williams is for all intents and purposes a final eliminator for a crack at the winner of the upcoming WBA 154 lb title fight between holder Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather on May 5.

 

Ishida has been a pro since 2000, but didn’t venture outside of his native Japan until 2010. Prior to that, he went 22-5-2 against mainly domestic opposition. He lost twice to the ever popular Crazy Kim early in his career, and also dropped a decision to one time Australian prospect Nader Hamdan in 2002.

 

From 2004 to 2010, Ishida went 11-0-1. Included in the streak were a pair of victories over future WBA welterweight title challenger Marco Antonio  Avendano. In 2010 Ishida traveled to Mexico and faced Rigoberto Alvarez – elder brother of current WBC light middleweight champion Saul ‘’Canelo’’ Alvarez – in a fight for the interim WBA 154 lb title.  Ishida made a cautious start and hit the deck in the seventh round, but he totally dominated the second half of the fight and looked to have done more than enough to win comfortably against the plodding, one-dimensional but heavy-handed Mexican. The split decision however went to Alvarez.

 

If Ishida’s first taste of boxing outside of Japan had been bitter, the same could not be said for his second fight. Taking on the rising, big punching American prospect James Kirkland on the Erik Morales Marcos Maidana undercard in Las Vegas , the Japanese fighter was given little chance against an opponent who was blowing away opponents in double quick time - Kirkland came into the bout at 27-0 with 24 KOs, eight in the first round.

 

In possibly the biggest upsets of 2011, Ishida dropped Kirkland early in the round with a left hook, and finished him off soon after with two more knockdowns. Despite his reputation as a relatively light puncher, the veteran from Japan had demolished one of America’s biggest prospects.

 

The victory over Kirkland fired Ishida up the world rankings, and now in Paul Williams he faces by far the biggest name and the toughest test of his career twelve year career. At 6’1”, Ishida is almost as tall as Williams, but his 72 inch wingspan is 10 inches less than the American. And despite the spectacular first-round destruction of James Kirkland, the reality is Ishida cannot punch his way out of a paper bag.

 

Although Williams looked a shadow of his former self against Lara last year, he will still have way too much for Ishida. The Japanese as a great chin and has never been KO’d, and I do not expect to see that statistic change on Saturday. However, I do expect Williams to win and win comfortably, putting on a display of boxing and punching against a relatively safe opponent, and placing himself in pole position for another crack at a version of a world title.

 

Williams by unanimous decision.

 

Big Fight Odds: Paul Williams 1/4, Nobuhiro Ishida 11/4 bet365