Carl Williams

Carl Williams, nicknamed "The Truth," was an American professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1997. Throughout his career, he fought in a total of 41 fights, winning 30, losing 10, and having 1 no-contest. Williams was born on November 11, 1959, in Belle Glade, Florida and passed away on April 7, 2013, due to esophageal cancer. He fought in the heavyweight weight class and was known for his orthodox stance in the ring. Throughout his career, Williams had a reach of 85 inches, stood at 6 feet 4 inches tall, and had an impressive 21 knockout wins.

Williams' career began when he signed with Ron Katz of the Top Rank after turning pro. His professional debut was on January 22, 1982, where he faced Greg Stephany and won via a four-round unanimous decision. Williams then went on to win 15 consecutive fights which included 12 knockout victories. He had his first world title fight at 25 years old on May 20, 1985, after 16 professional fights, against Larry Holmes for the IBF and The Ring titles. Though he lost via a 15 round unanimous decision, he continued to prove himself as an excellent fighter throughout his career.

One of Williams' notable and best fights include his win over Jesse Ferguson, Mike Gans, Marshall Tillman, Jimmy Lee Smith, Lou Turchiarelli, Trevor Berbick, and Marion Wilson. However, he also had a total of ten losses throughout his career, two of which occurred during title fights, and and eight in non-title bouts. Williams' suffered his first loss against Larry Holmes which ended his 16-fight win streak. He suffered ethnic losses via knockout and lost four times via decision. His last professional fight was a non-title bout against Anthony Green at 37 years old on October 30, 1997, where he lost via a 7th round TKO.

Williams' most significant fight came in 1989 when he fought Mike Tyson for the undisputed heavyweight championship. Unfortunately, Williams lost via a first-round knockout which was a devastating defeat for him. He thought that it was stopped too early and was not given more of an opportunity to demonstrate to the officials that he was not disorientated after the knockdown. Williams appeared uninjured, spoke clearly, and expressed his disappointment that he was not given the chance to "show my stuff." In a post-fight in-ring interview, Williams called for a rematch, which never took place.

After his knockout loss to Tyson, Williams became a journeyman heavyweight boxer. His other notable fights include losses to Tim Witherspoon, Tommy Morrison, and Frank Bruno, and wins against Bert Cooper and Trevor Berbick. He retired from professional boxing in 1997 with a record of 30-10-0-1 with 21 knockouts.

Aside from his career, Williams worked for Allied-SpectaGuard in New York City at the World Trade Center as a security agent and field supervisor. After the events of September 11, 2001, he worked for Verizon in Queens, New York as a security guard at the age of 42. Later, he worked for Forte Security Group in New York City, where he was a security guard at the Copacabana and Marquee nightclubs until he became ill.

Carl Williams inspired a parody character on the Fox program In Living Color, Carl "The Tooth" Williams, portrayed by Jamie Foxx, a boxer so named because he only had one tooth. It was said that Williams would live his everyday life in his boxing apparel, which made all appearances while singing the opening line of "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang."

Though Williams' career saw its ups and downs, there is no denying that he had an impressive run as a professional heavyweight boxer. His notable victories over big boxing names made him quite the contender in his time, and his legacy as a journeyman heavyweight cemented his place in boxing history. Even after retiring from boxing, Williams continued to contribute to his community by working in the security industry, where he was a valuable asset, keeping the peace and providing safety to the public. His legacy extends far beyond the ring, and he will always be remembered as a tremendous professional boxer and security guard.

Carl Williams Fight Record