08.10.07 – By Scott Frake: One-time heavyweight title challenger DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson (24-5, 20 KOs) was shockingly stopped at the end of 6th round on Saturday night by Australian heavyweight Kali Meehan (33-3, 27 KOs) at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. Meehan, ranked #15 in the World Boxing Association, launched a a huge right hand at the bell in the sixth round, crushing Williamson and sending him sagging to the canvas. Williamson, 39, was able to stagger to his feet to make it back to his corner. However, the combination of the brutal knockdown and the fact that he could barely walk, caused the bout to be stopped at the end of the round..
In the first three rounds of the fight, Williamson landed powerful combinations which kept Meehan off balance and unable to get his offense untracked. Williamson kept on the move, circling constantly and jabbing frequently. Meehan, a mostly right hand fighter, missed with many of his telegraphed right hand shots and was countered again and again by Williamson.
In rounds four through six, Meehan started going to the body with long over hand right hands. Williamson didn’t appear to like getting hit there and he continued moving to try and stay out of range. Williamson was mostly wild with his infrequent attacks, and missed – like in his bout with Wladimir Klitschko – with his right hand quite often. Meehan, however, began finding it much eaiser to land his overhand right to the head of Williamson. There was a lot of clinching and wrestling going on, especially in rounds five and six, which seemed to take the energy out of the smaller Williamson.
Late in the sixth round, Meehan landed a pulverizing right hand to the head of Williamson, which had the crowd shouting approval. Williamson, however, took the without any ill effects. However, moments later, Meehan again threw another powerful right hand at the bell, this time knocking Willaimson to his knees before falling to the canvas. He was badly hurt and barely made it up before the count of ten. However, once he was up, Williamson staggered around the ring like a drunk, as he weaved his way back to his corner. Seeing this, the referee halted the fight at 3:00 of the sixth round.
Going into the fight, the 37-year old Meehan wasn’t given much of a chance at beating Williamson, despite the Australian having an impressive-looking record. However, most of the wins were over 2nd-rate competition in Australia. The few times that Meehan had stepped it up against top level fighters, notably against Hasim Rahman, Danny Williams and Lamon Brewster, he’d lost each time. Meehan, however, gave an impressive showing against Brewster in 2004, and arguably should have gotten the decision. In fact, Meehan showed an impressive offensive arsenal on that night, much more advanced than the limited right hand attacks from his opponent, Williamson, on Saturday night.
Meehan, though, crumbled in his bout with Rahman in November 2004, losing a 4th round TKO. That bout more than anything was what made Meehan the underdog going into his fight with Williamson. Even though Meehan lost to Rahman, he still is very much a dangerous fighter as he showed against Williamson and would be a tough test for many of the top heavyweights in the division.