by James Slater, photo by Peter Mark Heintzelman – Now that he is seemingly back to his best form after annihilating in one swift round the only man to have beaten him in Carlos Quintana, the sky is the limit for Paul Williams. Maybe “The Punisher” will indeed go on to become the star many people felt he would after he beat Antonio Margarito. There are certainly no shortage of big and attractive fights out there for the now two-time WBO welterweight champion.
In an ideal world, who should the long-limbed southpaw face next? Well, it might not happen next, but should Williams face the winner of the upcoming Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito clash the fans would get the chance to see firsthand who the world’s best welterweight is. However, Cotto and Margarito are not fighting until July and after what will presumably be a quite brutal and punishing bout the eventual winner (and loser, come to that) will need a few months to pass before being ready to fight again.. So it would likely be around November or December at the earliest before Williams could fight July’s victor. That would very possibly be too long for “The Punisher” to remain idle. As such, it would be good sense for the WBO champ to take another fight in the meantime and then fight either Cotto or Margarito (for a second time) early next year.
It won’t go down too well with a number of fans, but maybe Williams could fight Quintana for a third time in his fight before. Sure, he blew the Puerto Rican away in less than three minutes on Saturday, but the two are one-and-one. Quintana is reportedly up for the rubber match, too, and a third fight would settle the two fighters’ differences once and for all. It’s not a certainty by any means that such a fight would sell, but the angle that Quintana was caught cold in fight two could be used in the promotion. Or how about Williams taking on someone like Shane Mosley in his next fight, then fight Cotto or Margarito? That fight would surely sell and it would give Mosley a well deserved final shot at the big time.
Whoever Williams fights next it’s going to be interesting. As long as he can continue to make 147 pounds comfortably and, more importantly, safely, the tall southpaw will have a chance to become the welterweight division’s dominant force. Calling him “the new Tommy Hearns” may have been going too far, but the 1st round ice job “The Punisher” did on Quintana at the weekend was a display “The Hitman” would have been content with.
Hopefully Williams, who called out Cotto, Margarito and even De La Hoya after Saturday’s win, will get the big fights he wants soon.