"Man, I'd love to get in there with Pacquiao. He throws a lot of punches and I throw a lot of punches. It would be an exciting fight...They say he's the best because he beat Cotto and he has the belt; he's really hot, but I'd like to get in there and prove myself with him and see how my skills match up to his skills. They say I'm too big for him, but he's a warrior. He fought De La Hoya, and Oscar's bigger than him. I don't think size matters; it's how big your heart is," stated former WBO welterweight champion Paul Williams as he talked about the possibility of returning to the welterweight division. Although Williams was impressed with Pacquiao's ability to impose his will on Cotto, he doesn't think the Filipino icon would have the same success against him.
"Pacquiao imposed his will on Cotto. Cotto did well for the first round, then once he got caught, he started backing up, going corner to corner to corner to corner. Of course Pacquiao's much faster, but you have to fight those guys," Williams commented as he shared his thoughts on Pacquiao performance in a recent interview with FightHype's Mike Juhas. "Pacquiao's a warrior, so all that punching and backing up and running and stuff, you can't run. You have to impose your will and man up. I think if he had thrown more punches and started fighting with him, he probably would have had a better outcome. By backing up and running, Pacquiao walked through him."
Williams is currently preparing for his upcoming December 5th clash with jr. middleweight Sergio Martinez. His last bout in the 147-pound division took place in June of last year, when he regained the WBO welterweight title with an explosive first round TKO victory over the only man to ever defeat him, Carlos Quintana. Unable to secure a big fight with any other top welterweights, Williams decided to relinquish his title and move up in weight to seek out challenges in the jr. middleweight and middleweight divisions. Having just as much trouble finding worthy challengers in those divisions, Williams is now eyeing a return to the welterweight division assuming all goes well on December 5th.
"We're talking about going back down to 147. I can go back down and stay around 150, so guys will know that I can make 147. A lot of people think I can't make that weight anymore, but I think there's no point in making the weight if I can't get a fight down there. Why go down there and fight somebody like a Joshua Clottey, who has no clout," he continued. "I wouldn't want to do that. Why go down to that weight and fight him? He has no belts. Why come down that far? I would definitely come down to that weight if it were Pacquiao, Cotto or Mayweather. I'd definitely come down to that weight."
As for the newly crowned WBO welterweight champion, Williams was impressed with his performance, but is not convinced that Pacquiao is the best fighter or the best welterweight in the world and would love the opportunity to prove it. "I didn't get to prove myself in the welterweight division because they made me move out of that weight class. Actually, Pacquiao has my belt now; I may want to come back and get my belt from him," he added. "Everybody says he's the best welterweight out there right now. In my mind, if I settle in on welterweight, he wouldn't be the best. So for right now, he is the best because I'm not at that weight. I'm not knocking him, but he's never proved himself to me. He's never fought me."
A welterweight clash between Manny Pacquiao and Paul Williams? Is that really possible? Time will tell, but the thought of it certainly is intriguing.
CHECK BACK SOON FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PAUL "THE PUNISHER" WILLIAMS
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