The Ups And Downs Of Danny “The Brixton Bomber” Williams.

It is worth noting though that this was not the same Danny Williams who once stepped into the ring to KO the legendary Mike Tyson in 4 astonishing rounds, this was a mere shell of a once fearsome champion. That’s not to discredit Chisora’s win, he did what he had to do and did it ruthlessly.

On the 25th of October 1995 at The York hall, Bethnal green, London, a 22 year old Danny “The Brixton Bomber” Williams (41-9, 31KO) made his professional boxing debut against fellow Brit Vance Idiens (10-13 2KO). It took 2 rounds for Williams to dispatch of opponent and kicking off what was to be one of the more colourful careers in modern British boxing history.

The Bomber would go on to win his first 15 fights before losing 118-114 on the cards to Julius Francis (23-24-1, 12KO) in a bid to pick up the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.

The set back didn’t stop Danny for long when 6 months later he knocked out Ferenc Deak in the first round. He would notch up 8 wins 7 by stoppage, picking up the British and Commonwealth titles with a 6th round TKO over Mark Potter (21-5 13KO) on route to a rematch with his only blip Julius Francis.

Williams stopped Francis in the 4th to retain the titles he failed to capture the first time round, cancelling out his only blemish 2 years previously. In 2003 he would suffer his second defeat and first stoppage loss to the then undefeated Sinan Samil Sam (31-4, 16KO) via 6th round TKO. 11 months later he would lose again 115-114 on the cards to Michael Sprott who he had already stopped twice previous in the 5th and 7th rounds. Williams would bounce back again with two more wins before taking the most famous fight of his career.

July 30th 2004 Williams would fight former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (56-6 44KO) Little if anyone gave Danny a hope of beating Tyson who was at that point still considered one of the most fearsome 2-3 round fighters in the world. Tyson was coming off the back of a brutal 1st round demolition of Clifford Etienne (29-4-2, 20KO). Williams a 3rd round TKO over Augustin N’Gou (23-2 21KO)

Tyson came out firing in the opening round, and it soon became one-way traffic with The Bomber clearly shaken after a crunching four-punch combination from Tyson.

Williams did brilliantly to hold on under more pressure with Tyson landing crashing left uppercuts. Williams went on the attack early in the second and landed a big left which stopped Tyson in his tracks.

But in the third he was unluckily deducted two points by referee Dennis Alfred, first for a clash which left Tyson cut and then for a low blow not that it was to make a difference to the outcome. Williams pushed forward again and landed three clean right hands to Tyson’s temple.

Tyson tried to step up a gear at the start of the fourth, but when Williams landed 26 unanswered blows, the once “Baddest man on the planet” went down and stayed there for the fifth ans most shocking defeat of his also colourful career.

The victory was considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of heavyweight boxing, and the career defining fight of Williams needed to rocket his name from domestic level onto the world stage. Setting up a fight with reigning WBC champion Vitali Klitschko (39-2 37KO).

This was the first and only world title fight of his career and unfortunately for him Williams bit off more than he could chew, and was punished by the champion losing via TKO in the 8th, going down in the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 8th before the fight was waved off by referee Jay Nady.

It was Klitschko’s first WBC title defence, and Williams 4th loss of his career so far. After the fight Klitschko said “It was amazing. I threw so many punches, but he has a big heart. He has a lot of respect from me. I was surprised how strong his chin was and I am very happy and proud to defend my prestigious title for the first time.”

Following the loss to Klitschko, Williams would have 15 more fights picking up the commonwealth title beating the then unbeaten Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison (27-4 20KO) and would hand Matt Skelton (22-5 19KO), Scott Gammer (18-5 9KO) for the British title and Konstantin Airich (14-2 11KO) their first professional losses. He would also lose in both rematches to Harrison (TKO 3) and Skelton (12rd unanimous decision).

In 2008 he would lose his British title to John McDermott (25-6 16KO) via a close decision. It’s also worth noting Williams had 2 points deducted in the 11th and 1 in the 12th round which cost him his British title.

He would later regain the title from McDermott winning 116-111, 116-111 on two cards and losing 113-115 on the other. This was to be The Brixton Bombers last Professional victory before losing to Carl Baker (9-5 6KO) in the 8 man Prizefighter tournament.

Before His final fight Williams had gone on record stating that win or lose against Chisora, he would be calling it a day after the fight telling BBC sports “I wanted to become a world champion but that wasn’t God’s will.

But I’m happy with what I’ve achieved. I am two-time Commonwealth champion, a two-time British champion, I beat Mike Tyson and fought for a world title. I have more British and Commonwealth title defences than Henry Cooper, so I’ve done alright.”

When asked about his plans for the future Williams claimed “After the fight, I’m going to do a course to become a qualified bodyguard. When the big stars come over, Madonna and all of them, they can be protected by the man that beat Mike Tyson.”

We would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Britishboxers.co.uk to wish Danny Williams all the best in his future endeavours and thank him for all great the memories over the years. Article By: Danny Nolan with British Boxers

1995


10-21 — Vance Idiens, London, England, KO 2


12-09 — Joey Paladino, London, England, TKO 1






1996


02-13 — Alvin Miller, London, England, TKO 1


03-09 — James Wilder, Millstreet, Ireland, W 4


07-13 — John Pierre, London, England, W 4


08-31 — Andy Lambert, Dublin, Ireland, TKO 2


11-09 — Michael Murray, Manchester, England, TKO 1

1997


02-08 — Shane Woollas, London, England, KO 2


05-03 — Albert Call, Manchester, England, TKO 4


07-19 — Roger McKenzie, London, England, TKO 2


11-15 — Bruce Douglas, Bristol, England, TKO 2


12-19 — Derek Amos, New York, NY, TKO 4




1998


02-21 — Shane Woollas, Belfast, Northern Ireland, TKO 2


05-16 — Juan Antonio Díaz, London, England, KO 3


10-10 — Antoine Palatis, London, England, W 12




1999


04-03 — Julius Francis, London, England, L 12


10-02 — Ferenc Deák, Namur, Belgium, KO 1


12-18 — Harry Senior, London, England, W 12




2000


02-19 — Anton Nel, Essex, England, KO 5


05-06 — Michael Murraym, Frankfurt, Germany, KO 6


06-24 — Craig Bowen Price, Glasgow, Scotland, KO 1


09-23 — Quinn Navarre, London, England, TKO 6


10-21 — Mark Potter, London, England, TKO 6


2001


06-09 — Kali Meehan, London, England, TKO 1


07-28 — Julius Francis, London, England, TKO 4


12-15 — Shawn Robinson, Ledyard, CT, TKO 2


2002


02-12 — Michael Sprott, London, England, TKO 7


09-17 — Keith Long, London, England, W 12

2003


02-08 — Sinan Samil Sam, Berlin, Germany, TKO by 6


04-26 — Bob Mirovic, London, England, TKO 4


09-26 — Michael Sprott, Berkshire, England, TKO 5




2004


01-24 — Michael Sprott, London, England, L 12


04-01 — Ratko Draskovic, London, England, TKO 1


05-13 — Augustin N’Gou, London, England, TKO 3


07-30 — Mike Tyson, Louisville, KY, KO 4


12-11 — Vitali Klitschko, Las Vegas, NV, TKO by 8


(For WBC Heavyweight Title)




2005


06-04 — Zoltan Petranyi, Manchester, England, TKO 3


12-10 — Audley Harrison, London, England, W 12




2006


02-25 — Matt Skelton, London, England, W 12


05-20 — Adnan Serin, Belfast, Northern Ireland, TKO 3


07-08 — Matt Skelton, Cardiff, Wales, L 12


12-09 — Audley Harrison, London, England, TKO by 3

2007


03-02 — Scott Gammer, Glamorgan, Wales, KO 9


12-08 — Oleg Platov, Basel, Switzerland, NC 4


2008


04-12 — Marcus McGee, Tampa, FL, W 6


05-30 — Konstantin Airich, Baracaldo, Spain, TKO 7


07-18 — John McDermott, Essex, England, W 12


11-08 — Albert Sosnowski, London, England, TKO by 8




2009


05-02 — John McDermott, Sunderland, England, W 12


10-02 — Carl Baker, London, England, L 3




2010


05-15 — Derek Chisora, London, England, TKO by 2


Retired