There's no doubt in Sy Stern's mind that Bahamian heavyweight boxer Sherman "Tank" Williams is what they call in boxing a grade A fighter.
Stern has been Williams' manager for almost seven years and he has been through the battles with the Freeport, Grand Bahama native. In fact, Stern describes Williams as one of the hardest punchers in the sport right now. This, according to Stern, is the main reason why the 39-year-old fighter has trouble booking a gig.
"The problem that Sherman has is unfortunately a fabulous problem, except in boxing where it is very difficult," said Stern.
"Anytime you have a strong fighter, and he is a good puncher people don't want to fight a good puncher. They are afraid of a good puncher. So the heavyweight division has gone down in terms of the quality. It has all been easy upon the Klitschkos, the East Coast and the Eastern Europeans, with no Americans really getting opportunities and no one else getting opportunities.
"I hate to say it, but the Eastern European guys are not fighting the top quality fighters. They fight guys who should just not be fighting for world titles. Sherman's biggest problem is that people don't like to take a chance with somebody that they know is capable of knocking the fighter out."
Williams is described as having an orthodox stance. He is 5' 11" with a reach of 76 inches. His last official bout was with Evander Holyfield in January 2011. The 12-round fight was stopped in the third round and ruled a no-contest.
Over the past four years, Williams, has only stepped into the ring three times. He defeated Andrew Greeley in 2008. The following year he fell to Manuel Charr, and in 2011 he went up against Holyfield. Right now his win/loss/draw record stands at 34-11-2.
Stern added: "I think that after the Holyfield fight, which was really a terrible decision, which should not have happened, I think Sherman was very discouraged. The boxing world really got sight of Sherman and they saw what his capabilities really were. It is almost like a stand-off, trying to get Sherman the right kind of fight that would make sense.
"I am not interested in taking a man of Sherman's age and his ability to turn around and put him in some average fight. That doesn't bring him any money and Sherman can get hurt. So I was trying to find the right kind of situation for Sherman and someone who would be willing to take a chance. Fortunately it came through with this fight in China."
On June 28, in Macau, China, Williams will look to deliver the winning punch and knock out Chauncy "Hillyard Hammer" Welliver. Both the World Boxing Organization's (WBO) China Zone heavyweight title and the World Boxing Council's (WBC) Asia Pacific title are on the line in this 12-rounder. Williams signed the deal last week Saturday. This will be his first fight in about 16 months.
The New Zealand fighter is rated number 10 in the heavyweight division in the WBO rankings. Welliver's last fight was in April at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, Missouri. The fight with Bert Cooper went the distance and at the end, Welliver was crowned the WBC Continental Americas heavyweight champion.
In January, Welliver stopped Moyoy Mensah in the ninth round. Four titles were on the line in that fight the WBO Asia Pacific, the WBC Asian Boxing Council title, the New Zealand National Boxing Federation heavyweight title and the interim WBO Oriental heavyweight title. Welliver left with all four.
That title fight was the 17th consecutive fight he had won. His winning streak extended into April and now Welliver can boast about holding a 53-5-5 win/loss/draw record. Of the 53 wins, 20 were knockouts.
Even though Williams has not fought in a while, Stern is confident.
"In Sherman's case when a man has all the experience like what he has, it is hard to find him a fight that is going to put him up in the rankings. It is hard to find him a fight so if he wins that will give him a very good shot at his next fight," he said.
Williams is training in Florida before heading to China for the fight.

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