Jeremy Williams was billed as “Half Man- Half Amazing”. Although he was undersized for a heavyweight, he was tall and lean, with cat-like quickness and heavy hands. Williams was a force in the heavyweight division for almost a decade before suffering a devastating knockout loss to Sam Peter in December 2004.
The Peter defeat appeared to mark the end of the road for Williams, a former amateur light heavyweight champion who battled bigger men for much of his professional career. Hovering in or near contention for most of his 12 year pro tenure, Williams was never able to ascend to the top levels of the heavyweight division. At 32, and with almost 50 pro fights, it seemed doubtful he would return from the brutal kayo he suffered at the hands of Peter.
Over two years later, and after a foray into the expanding world of mixed martial arts, Williams is back with a new lease on his boxing career. He’s moved down to the cruiserweight division, and will face veteran Gary Gomez next Saturday in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of a pay-per-view card next week. With the announcement of a back injury to Mesi, Williams’ bout will be added to the telecast. The goal of a championship in his natural weight class inspired his return. Williams’ bid will be helped by the fact that, since his heyday, the cruiserweight limithas increased from 190 to 200 pounds.
“What brought me back is the desire to win a title,” he said, speaking by phone. “It’s a longing in my heart to be a world champion. I robbed myself of the opportunities I had as a young fighter, fighting in a division that was clearly not for me.”
“I’m excited to be boxing again; to be in the cruiserweight division. There’s a lot of things to be happy for, most of all getting back into the ring and doing what I enjoy doing best.”
A childhood dream of being heavyweight champ inspired Williams to campaign as a heavyweight after turning pro in 1992. Prior to that, he’d been a dominating light heavyweight as an amateur, capturing two national titles at 178 pounds while compiling a reported 168-4 record. High expectations were placed on Williams as a pro, and he acknowledges there’s a part of him that feels he’s fallen short.
“A huge part of me thinks that,” he said. I’ve been my worst enemy throughout my career. I think this is a golden opportunity for me. Everyone knows this is the division I should have been in my whole career. Really, I’m not a big guy.”
Williams will be heavily favored against Gomez, and hopes to have two more tune-ups before facing one of the division’s top fighters. He also plans to keep competing in mixed martial arts, where he’s 4-0 since he started training after the Peter loss.
“It’s a tough, tough sport,” he said of MMA. “I have such respect for the guys who do it. It was a bit humbling to go back down to ground zero and learn how to fight a whole another sport again. It was very, very difficult to grasp the concepts of all the adjustments I needed to make. But after a couple of years of hard work, I got it.”
“Boxing has become easier because of the toughness my body had to go through to be an MMA fighter. You’ve never been hit until you’ve been kicked.”
He dreams of holding titles in both sports, and hopes to compete in the UFC. But the Sweet Science is his first love, and he’s ready to wage war in the 200-pound weight class, where his size wont work against him, as it did in a failed WBo heavyweight title bid against 232-pound Henry Akinwande in 1996.. “I’m not used to being the bigger guy. It should be a fun ride.”
Jeremy would like to thank his new sponsor Ring and Cage Clothing.
