Williams defeats Phillips

Ringside by Francisco Salazar & Edgar Gonzales
Photos by "Big" Joe Miranda

It has been said that Paul Williams is the most feared boxer in the welterweight division. Based on his performance last night, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif., one could say he may be one of the more feared boxers in the 154-pound division, too.

Williams systematically broke down three-time champion Verno Phillips, forcing a stoppage victory after the eighth round before a crowd of 5,400.

With the victory, Williams wins an interim world title.

The bout headlined a six-bout “At Last” card, presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions.

It was Williams’ third bout in a row, in three different weight classes. Williams stopped all three of those opponents during that stretch, punctuated with a first round annihilation of Andy Kolle in September.

Ironically, Williams has won his last three bouts in a row since his only defeat at the hands of Carlos Quintana in February, of which he avenged four months later.

Phillips was eight months removed from a 12-round split decision victory over Cory Spinks and had won his last four bouts in a row.

Almost 21 years removed from his professional debut, Phillips, who turned 39 on Saturday night, began the bout strong and had his best moments at the start of the fight. Phillips was able to successfully counter with right crosses or left hooks to the head.

Williams’ night was more complicated when both fighters clashed heads, opening a cut over the right eye of Williams. Blood would run down the side of Williams’ and even into his eyes.

Undeterred, Williams began to find a rhythm in the third round, pressing the action and effectively attacking the body of Phillips. Williams continuously found a home for right hooks to the body that slowed down Phillips’ attack.

“I felt that the turning point in the fight was in the third round,” said Williams, who won a world title for the second time in his career. “I felt Verno’s legs were weakening underneath him.”

Williams added an arsenal of combinations to the head behind his potent jab. Williams continued to land the harder and more effective punches as Phillips’ punch output began to drop.

Phillips mounted a minor rally in the seventh round, connecting well to the head of Williams. However, Williams controlled the action, landing a number of punches that landed solid and continuously to the head.

At the end of eighth round, the ringside physician recommended referee Jon Schorle to stop the fight.

Punch stat numbers overwhelmingly favored the southpaw Williams.

Williams landed 227 out of 682 total punches, while Phillips landed 91 out of 396 total punches. Williams’ 210 power punches dwarfed Phillips’ 88 power punches.

Despite the cut, Williams was very impressed with his performance.

“The cut that I suffered is just a part of boxing,” analyzed Williams after the fight. “It was the first time I had to deal with blood running down like that. The blood made me get stronger and it gave me an incentive to go after him.”

Asked if 154 pounds would be his ideal fighting weight, Williams stated that he is willing to go up or down in weight.

“That is something that my promoter (Dan Goossen)  and manager (Al Heyman) need to discuss. I will go down in weight to fight Margarito again. I’ve been calling out Mayweather for a number of years. I can go up in weight as well.”

Williams, from Aiken, SC, improves to 36-1, 27 KOs. Phillips, from Denver, CO, falls to 42-12-1, 21 KOs.

Arreola weathers storm, stops Walker

In a wild heavyweight bout, Chris Arreola survived a second round knockdown to drop Travis Walker, the final time for good, in the third round of a scheduled 12-round bout.

Arreola was coming off a third round stoppage victory over Israel Garcia on the same card where Williams stopped Kolle in September. Although Arreola overwhelmed the limited Garcia, Arreola was criticized by most media outlets for weighing in at 259 pounds for the bout.

While Arreola did train in Big Bear for his bout against Walker, he did not get off to a good start against Walker, who had stopped his last three opponents in a row before Saturday night.

Both fighters traded hard shots in the first round. Walker controlled the round as his punches landed often and more effectively than did Arreola.

Walked scored the first knockdown in the wild second round with a hard right hand to the head. Arreola went down to one knee and looked almost disgusted with himself rather than hurt.

“He was a solid and strong fighter,” said Arreola, who defended a regional belt with the victory. “He hit me pretty hard.”

The knockdown seemed to motivate Arreola to be aggressive as he went after Walker. Midway through the round, Walker looked winded and he began leaving himself wide open for him to be hit.

Just then, Arreola hurt Walker and dropped in with a right hand to the head. Walker stood up on wobbly legs and tried to hold onto Arreola. Walker was dropped a second time in the round by an accumulation of punches to the head. Walker did his best to hold on until the bell sounded to end the round.

Arreola went after Walker at the beginning of the third round, landing a left hook to the head of Walker that dropped in onto the canvas. Referee Jack Reiss immediately stepped in and stopped the bout at 13 seconds.

“I wanted to knock him out with my left hand,” said Arreola, who is promoted by Dan Goossen. “I am not concerned about my weight. Come Monday, I will be back in the gym training.’

Walker was disappointed with the outcome of the fight.

“I wanted to continue because I was not hurt,” said Walker, who began his career with 25 straight victories. “He took good shots that were right on target.  I could have continued, but the referee jumped in.”

Arreola, from Riverside, CA, improves to 26-0, 23 KOs. Walker, from Tallahassee, FL, drops to 28-2-1, 22 KOs.

Quezada decisions Oruh

Heavyweight Manuel Quezada won a lackluster 10-round unanimous decision victory over Teke Oruh.

Both fighters worked behind a jab as Oruh was more accurate with his punches. Quezada began to find a home for right hands to the head. Quezada was the busier and more effective fighter in the first half of the fight.

Oruh controlled the action in the second half of the fight. Sensing he was behind, Oruh landed hard right hands to the body and landed a majority of combinations he threw. Both fighters went at it in the final minute of the last round to produce the most action of the fight.

All three judges scored the bout 98-92 in favor of Quezada. Fightnews.com scored the bout 95-95 even.

Quezada, from Wasco, Calif., goes to 25-4, 15 KOs. Oruh, from Las Vegas, Nev., by way of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, falls to 14-2-1, 6 KOs.

Undercard bouts

From Riverside, Calif., Josesito Lopez (23-3 13 KOs) landed a beautiful over hand right that made Alex Perez (23-32-4 18 KOs) from Miami, Fla. taste the canvas.

Perez beat the count but it wasn’t enough for the beating Lopez unleashed after getting up, the referee saw enough and stopped the fight at the 2:36 mark of the second round.

Manuel Quezada (25-4 15 KOs) from Bakersfield, dominated Teke Oruh (14-2-1 6 KOs) from Las Vegas, with the same tactic, a 1-2 combination and working the body.

Quezada outworked Oruh through the scheduled ten rounds, earning him a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 98-92 for Quezada. 

Michael Dallas (5-0-1 1 KO) from Bakersfield, studded up and exchanged blows with Jose Alfredo Lugo (10-5-1 5 KOs) from Los Mochis, Mexico.

With some great back and fourth action, making it hard to score the bout, the end scores were 58-56 57-57 and 57-57 ending the fight in a draw. 

Making his pro debut, 2008 US Olympian Shawn Estrada gave Lawrence Jones (2-2-1 1 KO) from Washington, D.C. a brutal barrage of punches from the opening bell that forced referee to stop the fight one minute into round one.

Ringside notes

- This was the first professional boxing card at the Citizens Business Bank Arena. The arena will house a minor league hockey team and pre-season NBA games, along with concerts and performances.

- Other promoters on the card besides Goossen Tutor were Banner Promotions, Thompson Boxing Promotions, and Tachi Casino Promotions.

- The city of Ontario was put on the national map in the last two days. Friday night, Thompson Boxing Promotions held a fight card at the Doubletree Hotel. The Doubletree Hotel and the Citizens Business Bank Arena are only five minutes apart.