Look out, he's behind you! Herbie Hide v Danny Williams

James McDonnell

31.08 - As the summer wanes and the pantomime season draws closer with each shortening day, how fitting that we are being treated to a piece of knockabout theatre, as the slanging match between Herbie Hide and Danny Williams, initiated by the vociferous Hide continues.

American audiences should be familiar with both the names involved in this particular theatrical production, as both Herbie Hide and Danny Williams have graced the USA airwaves with their fistic talents. In the UK of course, both men are well known, with Williams being the long-reigning British champion.

Herbie hide, most famously of the two, was involved in an ill-fated attempt to wrest the WBA world title belt from Riddick Bowe, his attempt ending in a terrible drubbing and multiple knockdowns, 5 in all if I recall rightly.

The UK boxing press has really had something to get it's teeth into with these two men providing some much needed drama, in what is often a graveyard shift for big time boxing. Although neither of them is a top flight contender, their matchup promises more than light comedy, and there is every chance that a serious fight may break out amid the histrionics.

Herbie Hide if nothing else, has a talent for self-promotion, and every time a camera is pointed in his direction, you are guaranteed a sound bite or 50, as the motor-mouthed Hide spouts off invective at all and sundry.

Hide and Williams have history, as has been well documented, and embellished somewhat by one or both parties involved, depending on whom you believe.

Danny Williams was an up and coming fighter when Herbie Hide, then a WBO title holder was in sparring, preparing for his big clash with Vitali Klitschko back in 1999. At the time, Herbie had a single loss on his resume to Riddick Bowe, and whilst he lost in pretty devastating fashion, a KO defeat to Bowe, who was arguably at the pinnacle of his powers, was no great shame to bear.

The gospel according to Hide of course, is that Williams was as they say 'knocked bandy' in sparring, and had to be helped out of the ring. Similar claims were made for Audley Harrison's sparring sessions with Herbie.

In recent times, Herbie Hide has undergone something of a renaissance, after disappearing into obscurity following a shocking KO defeat at the hands of unknown Joseph Chingangu, which appeared to have finished Herbie's career.

Having now relocated to Lag Vegas, and enlisting the help of Steve 'Crocodile' Fitch (better known as Mike Tyson's former cheerleader and rabble rouser), to create something of a brouhaha, Hide has embarked on what is widely received as a last opportunist hurrah, to capitalise on his former world titlist credentials.

Since his return, Herbie's has hurled abuse in the direction of Audley Harrison and Danny Williams, the two biggest names (outside of Lennox Lewis of course) in British Heavyweight boxing.

Memorably, there were handbags at dawn, following Audley Harrison's win over ???/ when Harrison goaded Hide, by leading the crowd in chants for erstwhile British and WBC 'World' Champion Frank Bruno, as a possible next opponent.

Williams recently took the unprecedented move of writing to the letters column of esteemed British boxing publication boxing news, where he poured scorn on Herbie's claims to have had the upper hand in sparring, making a counterclaim that it was Hide and not he, who had to be carried from the ring by his ring hands, and that Williams was summarily dismissed from his duties as a sparring partner as a result. Whatever the truth of the matter, it's whetted appetites in the UK.

All the amateur dramatics aside, a fight between Williams and Hide is genuinely something to get excited about, and whilst it may not be of any real significance in the long run in terms of global significance, it should be a cracking fight.

Why? Well, Herbie Hide has long been known for his china-chops, after getting dropped 5 times by Riddick Bowe, and suffering subsequent crushing KO defeats to Vitali Klitschko, and then Joseph Chingangu. Alloyed to this is the fact that Hide is a pretty devastating puncher with an aggressive
dancing style.

Bowe was quoted as saying that Herbie Hide hit him harder than any other fighter he has faced, and whilst I'm a little dubious about the veracity of this, especially as he was chewed up and spat out by Golota, and dropped like a sack of spuds by Holyfield, there is no doubt that the 'Dancing Destroyer' can punch. Of his 32 wins, 31 are by KO, and his brutal KO over former conqueror Chingangu showed he has lost none of his formidable punchpower.

Danny Williams, up until recently, was still regarded as a feint hope as a successor on the world stage to Lennox Lewis. After losing his title back in 1996 to Julius Francis, in a strangely lacklustre performance, Williams was within spitting distance of the big time, after signing with Don King productions, and after engaging in a number of bouts in the USA, was 1 fight away from an eliminator.

Unfortunately, that 1 fight was against former world amateur champion, Sinan Samil Sam, the aptly named bull of the Bosphorus. The Turkish born heavyweight, fighting out of Germany for Universum, the same team which handles the Klitschko brothers among others, was not widely tipped to win,
although some knowledgeable people (thanks Carlos) I spoke to prior to the bout, reckoned rightly that Williams was in for a tough night's work.

It was a shocking defeat for Williams, who seemed, as has often been the case throughout his career, strangely listless and off-key, being decked 3 times before the fight was stopped by the referee.

In one fell swoop, his world-title aspirations evaporated, and Sanil Sam overtook him to leapfrog into the lower echelons of the major sanctioning bodies world rankings.

So, both fighters now are at the last chance saloon, and whilst I don't think either of them should have any pretensions of world conquering ambition, they have a few big fights left in them.

It is the talents and frailties of both men promise to make this an explosive fight.

Hide, although not technically great, is blessed with speed of hand and foot, and can bang with either hand. His very poor punch resistance offsets his physical gifts, which makes every trip into the ring against top level opposition something of a lottery.

Williams, though quick handed, and a good combination puncher, doesn't have the hand speed of Hide, although on occasion he has demonstrated comparable power, his footwork has always been ponderous, and as pointed out to me correctly by the astute Carlos Hughes, he's a fighter without natural rhythm.

Whilst Williams has never been regarded as 'chinny' he has been hurt recently by both Samil Sam, and previously by light-hitting Keith Long, a tough but mediocre and light-hitting domestic level fighter.

It's a matchmakers dream, the two fighter's styles promise an explosive and potentially brief contest, especially with the needle involved. Even the mild-mannered Williams, known as one of the 'nice-guys' of the UK boxing scene getting hot under the collar. The fight promises to be the biggest domestic clash since Lewis v Bruno.

Of course, it's unlikely that this fight will be shown in the USA, unless there is some very clever negotiating done somewhere along the line, so you're probably wondering (unless you're on the right side of the Atlantic), why I'm bothering to tell you about this.

The truth is, I think this fight demonstrates that not only world title fights make for interesting bouts, and that beneath those lofty heights there are some very interesting and entertaining fights going on, especially at UK domestic level.

My prediction, it really is a pick'em fight, I'll lean toward Hide by mid round KO, or Williams late, but I think Hide will prevail in this one.