Danny Williams, who spent years as a lightly regarded contender before stunning Mike Tyson, said he will test the heart and chin of Vitali Klitschko in their WBC title fight here tomorrow.
A confident Williams says Klitschko lacks the fighting spirit necessary to successfully defend his WBC heavyweight title at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino tomorrow.
PHOTO: AP
"Klitschko has a yellow streak in him," the 31-year-old Williams said.
"He does not like it when things get tough. His heart is definitely a weakness and it is up to me to expose it once again," he said.
Williams is trying to validate his shocking win over Tyson five months ago.
Klitschko, of the Ukraine, has had to live with the tag of "quitter" since refusing to get off his stool at the end of the ninth round of his WBO title defense against Chris Byrd in April 2000.
He tore his left rotator cuff earlier in the bout and later underwent surgery.
Williams has gone 12 rounds five times in his 35-fight career while the 33-year-old Klitschko (34-2) has done it just once.
Williams points to his amazing 2001 British title battle with Mark Potter in which he dislocated his right shoulder but fought on despite mounting calls from ringside for him to give up.
In the sixth round, Williams let fly with a crashing left hand that sprawled Potter semi-conscious on the canvas.
"I never thought I would knock out Potter with my right arm as bad as it was," he said.
"I proved that when I was in a situation like that, I did not feel pressure so I could perform at my best," Williams said.
"But Klitschko only half-hurt his shoulder near the end against Byrd when he was way ahead on the scorecards. He just pulled out and said he would live to fight another day. Those are not the words of a true warrior," he said.
Williams' trainer, Jim McDonnell believes the university-educated Klitschko is too bright to fight through adversity.
He added that while most top fighters rely solely on instinct in desperate situations, Klitschko remained cold and measured.
"Klitschko is a very wise individual. I think he is so wise that during the Byrd fight he made a business decision," he said.
"He decided he would get his chance at the title again and it was not worth carrying on," McDonnell said.
Klitschko has refused to be drawn into arguments over his fighting spirit.
He believes he proved a point last year when he was willing to fight on against Lennox Lewis before the fight was stopped because of cuts.
"People are entitled to their opinion," he said.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS