The career of former WBO welterweight champion is sadly over
after a motorcycle accident on Sunday.
The American, who was set to face Saul Alvarez for the WBC
light-middleweight title in September, was thrown from his bike and
suffered damage to his spinal cord.
Not only will the injury end his boxing career, it could also
mean that he is paralysed from the waist down for the rest of his
life.
George Peterson, Williams' manager, revealed that his fighter is
unlikely to walk again but Williams is refusing to accept the news
at this stage.
"Paul is in denial right now. It's been that way with him. You
tell him he can't or won't do something, and he wants to prove you
different," Peterson said.
"So whatever the doctors say, he's not listening. But they say
that walking and boxing is not going to happen."
Nicknamed 'The Punisher', southpaw Williams became a world
champion for the first time in 2007 when he used his natural size
advantages to dethrone Antonio Margarito in Carson, California.
His first defence of the bauble saw him upset by Puerto Rico's
Carlos Quintana but he corrected that blemish by regaining the
title with a first round knockout in a June 2008 rematch.
After that he went on to score wins over Ronald 'Winky' Wright,
Sergio Martinez and Kermit Cintron before Martinez knocked him out
in rematch.
During the past 12 months he has scored a controversial points
win over Erislandy Lara and a shutout unanimous verdict over
Nobuhiro Ishida.
29/05/2012 09:22:20