Los Angeles native Terrel Williams (left) is a rising star in the welterweight division. He is 6-0 with five knockouts. He will fight at Florentine Gardens in Hollywood on September 20. Photo by Jason Lewis
Andre Ward is on his way to stardom
Super middleweight champion Andre Ward is not a house hold name yet, but after dominating Chad Dawson in a 10 round TKO victory, he will be getting a lot more promotion, which should make him the next big star in the sport.
Ward has it all. He is undefeated at 26-0 with 14 knockouts. He won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. And the only two fighters, pound-for-pound, who are considered better than he is now are Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Seeing that Ward is younger than both of them, and he is running through his competition like those two great fighters have theirs, Ward has worked himself into a position to find himself as the marquee fighter on pay-per-view fights.
Ward is a golden boy, just like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Oscar de la Hoya, and his career so far is shaping up to be a lot like those other Olympic gold medal winners.
Ward has it all. He is tough like Bernard Hopkins, as he rushes in and mugs his opponents, and he has no problem roughing up his opposition. And just like Hopkins, Ward is an extremely smart and tactical boxer, which allowed him to knockdown Dawson this past Saturday night three times before Dawson had enough.
Ward has great footwork that allows him to position himself properly so that he can deliver accurate punches without taking a lot of hits. Against Dawson, Ward landed 155 punches, but was only hit 29 times in 10 rounds of action.
Most great fighters know when to take chances, and Ward is patient enough to know exactly when to let loose on his opponents. He sees the openings before his opponent can see his punches coming, and he is smart enough to know when to back off so that his opponent does not land any wild punches.
After running through the middleweight division by winning the Super Six World Boxing Classic late last year, and having his way against Dawson, who came down from the light heavyweight division for this past Saturday night’s fight, Ward looks like he can be one of boxing’s greatest fighters over the past 20 years. The sky is the limit for him.
Terrel Williams fights in Hollywood
As Ward is climbing the ranks as pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Los Angeles native Terrel Williams is also making a name for himself in the early stages of his career. He is 6-0 with five knockouts, and with each fight he is taking on tougher opponents.
On Thursday, September 20, he will take on his seventh opponent at Florentine Gardens on Hollywood Blvd, just east of Vine.
Williams, who works in Hawthorne as a forklift operator during the morning and travels to Reseda everyday to train with Shadeed Suluki, has been compared to legendary boxer Tommy Hearns. Both fighters are tall and lanky for the welterweight division, and Williams has a knockout punch, just like Hearns did.
Williams has been fighting nearly monthly as of late, so that he can get enough ring experience to get bigger matches. Seeing him fight now is like watching a star in the making.
Read more about Williams: http://lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1588:terrel-tyger-williams-hunger-drives-him-in-boxing&catid=102&Itemid=192
