Relentless Williams pummels Wright

With victory essentially wrapped up, many boxers become defensive, doing everything possible to avoid a surprise late knockdown.

Not Paul Williams. No way.

Then again, why wouldn't he keep pursuing? That was his reputation entering Saturday's fight against Winky Wright, and it only became enhanced as the night wore on.

So Williams chased Wright into the corner in the final five seconds, adding an exclamation mark to his unanimous decision at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

"He didn't stop throwing punches from the first round until the bell at the end of the 12th round," said Dan Goossen, Williams' promoter.

Judge Adalaide Byrd gave Williams all 12 rounds of the nontitle middleweight bout, scoring it 120-108. Judges Jerry Roth and Robert Hoyle scored it 119-109.

The punch statistics were just as one-sided, with Williams (37-1) throwing an incredible 1,086 blows compared with Wright's 511. He also landed 247 punches to Wright's 116.

"I anticipated it was going to be a tough fight," Williams said. "I would've loved to knock him out, and I'm sure he would've loved to knock me out. I felt (in the 12th) like I did in the first round."

Though the pro-Wright crowd of 5,425 booed the judges' decision, Wright knew the better boxer won. He made that obvious during the 12th round when he went after Williams in search of a knockout.

"I just couldn't get my punches off," Wright said of the entire fight. "He would throw a lot of punches, and they were coming from all different directions, and I didn't know how to dodge them."

Goossen said he thought Williams thrust himself into the discussion of who's the best pound-for-pound fighter, and it was difficult to argue otherwise after this performance. Williams was the aggressor all evening, and he hurt Wright noticeably with a combination early in the 11th round, though neither fighter managed a knockdown.

Wright tried to work inside of Williams' 82-inch reach and, despite landing some good shots, never found the tide-turning punch or combination.

"I expected Winky to throw big shots, and he did," Williams said. "We went 12 hard rounds."

Williams has complained the top boxers won't fight him. He fought in three weight classes last year, and his last notable opponent before Wright was Antonio Margarito in 2007.

Wright (51-5-1) hadn't fought since July 21, 2007, and he appeared to tire late against Williams. The 37-year-old former junior middleweight champion vowed he would be back despite this result.

"I had a long layoff, and I'm not going to wait that long again," Wright said. "He threw a lot of punches, but it was a great fight."

In the first televised bout, Chris Arreola easily retained his NABF heavyweight title by knocking out Jameel McCline at 2:01 of the fourth round.

Arreola improved to 27-0 with 24 knockouts. After dispatching McCline (39-10-3), he has his sights set on establishing himself as the unquestioned top heavyweight.

"I want the best," Arreola said. "In order to convince the fans, I have to fight the very best. In order to do that, I need to beat the best fighters, and I believe Jameel McCline is."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.