Williams' career nearly crash lands in Dagenham by Will Hale Jul 20th 2008

The career of the Brixton Bomber nearly crash landed on Friday night (July 18th) in Dagenham as the reigning British heavyweight champion survived three deductions and a nightmare fifth round to squeeze past mandatory challenger John McDermott via a majority decision. Watching Danny Williams from ringside, it was easy to get that feeling that you watching a fighter who had aged past his era. He was still somewhat himself; immensely brave under fire and able to grit his teeth and launch shots when his opponents got a scent that he was hurt. Yet against a competent but unremarkable foe, Williams was defused by jabs, extremely lucky not to be stopped in the fifth, and forced to foul play in the eleventh when two of the three point deductions occurred. Promoter Frank Maloney pirouetted around and kicked the corner post in frustration on hearing the verdicts of the three scoring judges read aloud by MC Michael Pass. Richie Davies scored it an even 113-113, whereas Mark Green and Marcus McDonnell scored for the one-time WBC title challenger to the tune of 114-111 and 114-113 respectively. Most on the press row at ringside thought that, even despite the deductions, Danny just edged it by doing that bit more in rounds where John didn't work hard enough to convincingly separate champion from championship. I had it a point in favour of McDermott. But what was beyond dispute is that Danny, on the basis of this performance, has gone backwards. A pro for almost thirteen years, the harsh truth is that Williams could use neither his skill or experience to find any effective way to defeat a predictable, yet capable domestic challenger. He once again secured a win by getting hit in order to deliver his own slightly-superior work. The man from Hornden looked so nervous in the opener. His Jabs fell short and his face wore an expression of concern amidst the abrasive glottal roars of his partisan supporters. Although he was forced to take a good right hand from Williams, any thoughts that the ghosts of the Skelton nightmare not being fully exorcised were quickly dispelled as he finished scoring with his own hard left hook. Williams targeted McDermott's supersized McStomach in the second. Even at this advanced stage in his career, Danny can deliver truly scything combinations. At the end of the round, John seemed to complain in his corner of an injury to his left rib. Over the third and fourth, Danny seemed to get the better of affairs, as McDermott didn't punch with any consistent fluency and was cautious about exposing his body. The fifth round was sensational for “Big Bad” John. Although he'd stopped sixteen opponents in his twenty-five wins going in, most couldn't envision McDermott's punches doing what iron Mike's couldn't and singing Danny boy a lullaby. But for near half of the session, Williams was on the verge of being halted as John's understated yet powerful shots smashed into Danny's bloody and bearded dome. Williams, drawing on all of his forty-six fights worth of experience, threw shots back at the right time to convince Dave Parris to let him carry on. But it seemed that Danny was on the hook for an eternity. So like Samil Sam, Tyson, Klistchko and Audley before him, McDermott poured it on and soaked Williams in a vicious squall of ripping, clean punches. But somehow Danny navigated through to the bell and John's moment had passed. Despite following up well by taking the sixth on my card with his jab, John allowed Danny to take rounds seven through ten by simply maintaining a marginally higher work rate to himself. The deficiency's were there for John to exploit, Danny was so flat footed and often his hands dropped into no-man's land, but John simply didn't let enough go to take the sessions. The pair were exchanging freely again by the eleventh, and oceans of sweat were flying off into the transfixed crowd. This wasn't a world class fight, but it delivered tremendous excitement. After several prior warnings, Danny was penalised a point for low blows. Then, almost immediately, he pushed McDermott in the face on the break and was docked another. It may be due to Danny getting the short-end of the Arena Boxpromotion's stick last time out, but he has been docked five points in his last two outings, which is a worrying sign. The balance appeared to be very interesting on the cards going into the last. If you scored 10-8 for John in the fifth and then mixed in the eleventh round deductions, the fight may have been close, especially if you'd leaned towards McDermott in some of the close rounds. Danny suffered another needless deduction in the twelfth when he had a point taken off for his mouth piece falling out several times. The pair battled spiritedly to the bell with Danny getting the upper hand and ultimately getting the edge in a tense cliff-hanger of a decision. So where next for the Brixton Bomber? Let's take a worldwide whistle stop tour of the not-so-mouth watering possibilities. Danny could venture back into Europe to bait those well-managed prospects with the kudos that they could get by beating the man who once knocked out Mike Tyson. Or if that doesn't float your boat, how about going to the States, maybe, where there where there are plenty of non-American heavyweights that , in all fairness, are along way removed from captivating the public's imagination. And to swirl faster around the spiral of despair, why not get another keep-it-in-the-family tournament going with Williams, Sprott, Skelton and Harrison going? Danny Williams has been a fantastic servant to British boxing, but those looking to the future might focus more keenly on a certain David Haye for a more positive glimpse at a brighter heavyweight horizon.

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