At the beginning of the year Leon Williams (9-6, 4) was the British Cruiserweight champion, he had decrowned the long reigning Rob Norton, albeit in controversial fashion. Since then however things have gone downhill, and fast, for Williams who has lost not only his title (being stopped by Shane McPhilbin) but also every fight he has had this year.
Whilst the loss to McPhilbin was a bit of an upset, he later blown out by Tony Conquest in an expected result. A less than expected result however was Williams being completely shut out by Latvian journeyman Arturs Kulikauskis (8-14-3, 4) on Monday. Williams failed to win any of the 8 rounds as Kulikauskis showed him up to be a very, very limited fighter and arguable the worst "British" champion, at any weight, in living memory.
Going into the bout you had to go back over 2 years to find the last fight Kulikauskis won (out pointing Algirdas Bendikas, currently 0-6). Since his last win, Kulikauskis had gone 0-8-2 losing to some very decent fighters such as Thierry Karl, Mateusz Masternak (the only man so far to stop him), Dimitri Sartison (who was somewhat fortunate to earn the decision) and Server Yemurlayev. It may be fair to say that the Latvian could have had a very respectable record had he not been used as "an opponent", though for Williams, the future is bleak and ironically he may well become "an opponent" himself.
Whilst the loss to McPhilbin was a bit of an upset, he later blown out by Tony Conquest in an expected result. A less than expected result however was Williams being completely shut out by Latvian journeyman Arturs Kulikauskis (8-14-3, 4) on Monday. Williams failed to win any of the 8 rounds as Kulikauskis showed him up to be a very, very limited fighter and arguable the worst "British" champion, at any weight, in living memory.
Going into the bout you had to go back over 2 years to find the last fight Kulikauskis won (out pointing Algirdas Bendikas, currently 0-6). Since his last win, Kulikauskis had gone 0-8-2 losing to some very decent fighters such as Thierry Karl, Mateusz Masternak (the only man so far to stop him), Dimitri Sartison (who was somewhat fortunate to earn the decision) and Server Yemurlayev. It may be fair to say that the Latvian could have had a very respectable record had he not been used as "an opponent", though for Williams, the future is bleak and ironically he may well become "an opponent" himself.
RSS Feed