After Winky's Beatdown, Who Wants To Fight Paul Williams Now?

Originally presented at BoxingWatchers.com.

When Winky Wright actually admits he's been beaten, that's saying something.

I had to leave for work right after the 10th round of the Paul Williams-Winky Wright fight on Saturday, but I had seen enough by then.

As I walked out the door, I told my brother I already knew what was going to happen: Williams was going to win by decision and Wright was going to complain about it.

Turns out I only got the first part right. The man who A.P. writer Greg Beachem correctly pegged as a "notoriously sore loser" wasn't sore at all (except in the face), admitting the judges' lopsided scores were correct.

Wright was flummoxed by punches thrown from impossible angles. At one point, Williams threw a left uppercut under his own right arm, which Wright was holding.

The ref was so taken aback that he instinctively issued a warning to Williams.

Winky also acknowledged that, while he was ready to face a lot of punches, he didn't understand it was going to be quite that many. The volume that Williams delivers has to be seen to be believed.

Before we get too carried away, I should stop short of making it seem like Williams is invincible. I'd stop way short of saying what promoter Dan Goossen said when he called his fighter the best in the world, regardless of weight.

Williams's defense is a little sloppy, for one thing. Though he's quite capable of enough head and leg movement to be evasive, Williams got tagged a number of times by a fighter nearly 10 years his senior.

He seems to have a sturdy chin, but hasn't faced enough one-punch KO artists to tell where his toughness lies.

That's nitpicking though.

Williams' blend of activity, offensive variety, and conditioning show he is tough enough, even without considering his freakishly long reach and the fact that he's a lefty.

He comes across as likable as well, so he should be on his way to becoming a true star.

One problem: Most boxing scribes agree, as do I, that his near-blanking of Wright isn't likely to make other top boxers want to fight him—a difficult task even before Saturday.

One thing Williams does have going for him is that his able to pull off his team's plan to fight anywhere between 147 and 160 pounds.

With that in mind, I've brainstormed some possible opponents at welterweight, junior middle, and middleweight, and separated them by likelihood:

Welterweight Division

Intriguing possibility: Miguel Cotto—He seems like the kind of guy who would relish the challenge, and if he can beat Joshua Clottey convincingly, his stock will be back on the rise.

Cotto is also a big enough star to sell tickets if the fight is held in the right place, like NYC.

Doubtful: Shane Mosley—Sugar Shane has supposedly already nixed fighting Williams in the past. He's close to the end of his career and wants to take only the biggest money fights, which probably rules out The Punisher.

No freaking way: Antonio Margarito—He's suspended right now, and has already lost to Williams once.

Junior Middleweight Division

Intriguing possibility: James Kirkland—Kirkland could have enough confidence in himself to say, "I don't give a f---" and just wade through punches to go after Williams.

Knockout artist Alfredo Angulo may fit that description too, but he's less likely to be ready for such a big step up.

Doubtful: Vernon Forrest—The Viper just pulled out of a fight due to injury and is even older than Wright. Plus, even he is shorter than Williams.

No freaking way: Oscar De La Hoya—It's funny just to think about the Golden Boy facing down 100-plus punches a round.

Middleweight Division

Intriguing possibility—No one comes to mind, unless Bernard Hopkins jumps in a time machine and rewinds the clock 10 years.

Doubtful: Kelly Pavlik—Team Pavlik seems to be content with a safer path for the time being. If he and Williams cross paths, I'm guessing it will be a couple of years down the road.

No freaking way: Arthur Abraham—Right now, it's tough to get him to come across the pond and fight the much more conventional Pavlik. Think he's going to do it to try and solve Williams?

Me neither.