The return of Ricardo Williams
By Vikram Birring, Doghouse Boxing (May 5, 2010)  
Ten years ago, Ricardo “Slicky Ricky” Williams Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio, was the hottest thing in boxing. He was a two time national amateur champion, national Golden Gloves champion, and Olympic silver medalist. He was ambidextrous as a boxer, holding lethal power in both fists with a dazzling array of boxing skills and footwork.

Then he turned professional.

Perhaps the steep downfall could be attributed to his $1.4 million signing bonus from Lou DiBella. Richer than he could possibly dream of, all the hunger Williams had as an amateur disappeared, for he had made it to the mountain top without a single professional round.

His lack of dedication in training led to two embarrassing defeats, one to Juan Valenzuela, and one to midwestern journeyman Manning Galloway, who if you were to search on Google, would result in pictures of football stars Peyton Manning and Joey Galloway.

Even more humiliating than the defeats was the three-year prison sentence Williams was sentenced to in 2005 for his part in a cocaine distribution ring. Why a wealthy, talented young man with the world at his feet would partake in such a foolish endeavor is inexplicable.

He served thirty-one months of his sentence, and upon release has had six fights against substandard opposition. However, in his last outing, he stopped Harrison Cuello, best known for his defeat over Edgar Santana, ironically who is also in massive legal problems at the moment.

On this night, he fought Richard Best (5-13-3, 4 KO), who could probably only be described as the best at losing, for he didn’t put up much of an effort and was finished off in the first round, with three seconds remaining. If you went to the bathroom, you would have missed it (some did). But Williams (16-2, 9 KO) did what he was supposed to do, and with the support of Antonio Leonard, James Prince, and former Olympic teammate Jermain Taylor, Williams, at age 28, has one more chance to capture the potential he never reached years ago. That’s all one can ask for in life, an opportunity.

Cornelius “Beast” White (14-0, 13 KO) had less than fifteen amateur fights, but is blowing opposition out in his brief professional career. On this night, the hapless opponent was Jose Medina (15-19, 11 KO), and as expected, he was torn into in a torrential first round. After being battered all over the ring and sent to the canvas multiple times, the fight was stopped with one second left in the opening round.

When Medzhid Bektemirov’s (3-0, 3 KO) opponent was announced as Chad Johnson (1-3), one hoped it was the mercurial football receiver, but alas, it was a no hoper from Oklahoma City. He went down with the first decent punch, and the fight was stopped with seven seconds remaining in the opening round.

Gustavo Alarcon is best known as Juan Diaz’s first cousin. Still a baby at just age 19, he was in against the rugged Gerardo Dominguez. Like his cousin, Alarcon (0-1) chose to stand in front of his opponent and trade fire with fire, with mixed results. Perhaps one day he will be an excellent professional, but he needs time to develop his body and gain experience. Dominguez (1-6) won a unanimous decision, 39-37 on all cards.

Juan Garcia, also just a kid at age 19, was matched up against Vincent Releford, who although had only one defeat in his only bout, it was to Jorge Suarez who still has not lost. When Releford removed his robe, the audience began to buzz, for Garcia was in for a long night against a very strong opponent with a good level of fitness. Releford’s (1-1, 1 KO) glistening muscles shined under the bright lights, and he stunned Garcia (0-1) midway through the round. Garcia’s arms dropped, his head slumped over, and he took punch after punch. It was a sickening sight. For some odd reason, the referee allowed the slaughter to continue. Finally, Neal Young stopped the match with sixty-four seconds remaining in the opening round. Thankfully, Garcia seemed to be in good spirits after the bout with no significant damage.

Jimmy Guzman (4-0, 2 KO) is Frank Tate’s newest protégé. He showed off his skills against Brandon Wyatt (0-2), and cruised to a decision, 40-36 on all cards.

Questions or comments,
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Vikram at: vikram.birring@gmail.com



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