HOLMAN WILIAMS
BORN: January 30 1915; Pensacola, Florida
DIED: July 1967; Akron, Ohio
HEIGHT: 5-10 ½:
WEIGHT : Lightweight - Light-heavyweight
MANAGER: Julian Black & John Roxborough; Charley Rose
Why Holman Williams Belong in the Hall-of-Fame
Holman Williams was born in
Disappointed
with not making the Olympic team Holman Turned to the professional
ranks and was soon making headway in the 135lb class. For the first
three years out of the Simon-Pure ranks he ran a record of 19 bouts,
with 17 wins, one loss and one draw. Included in this run were 11 early
stoppages. By 1935 he was ready to step up in class and defeated Wesley
Farrell over ten rounds in New Orleans in a fight promoted as being for
the ‘Colored Lightweight Championship of the World’. Four fights later
his winning streak of 26 was broken as he lost over ten rounds to Cocoa
Kid. The Puerto Rican wizard appeared to have the hex sign on Holman as
he defeated him handily in three of their next four meetings. One of
those defeats was early the following year (1936) in a contest for the
‘Colored Welterweight Championship’. Cocoa Kid would lose the belt to
Charley Burley in 1938 before Williams relieved Burley of the title
later the same year.
That particular 15-round contest between
Burley and Williams was the first of what proved to be an exciting
series between the two technicians. If the bout had been contested over
the ten round distance Charley Burley may have gained the victory but,
Williams, demonstrating that he had heart as well as skill, came off
the canvas three times in the fourth round. He somehow stayed in the
fight and seized the opportunity for victory when Burley, a mile ahead
after nine rounds, injured his shoulder. Williams was able to come back
against a one-handed opponent and grabbed a close decision after 15
eventful rounds.
During this pre-war period Williams was
tangling with good calibre fighters including; Wesley Farrell, Lew
Massey, Luther ‘Slugger’ White, Bobby Pacho, Remo Fernandez, Gene
Buffalo, Saverio Turiello, Andre Jessurun, Eddie Booker, Carl Dell,
Izzy Janazzo and the aforementioned Charley Burley. By the onset of the
40s Williams was 65 and 7, with 24
"When I was coaching the novices at
Holman Williams
Williams
also recalled that he seconded Louis in his first formal fight. This
was an intramural match with a boy named Henry Carter.
"Joe
got the decision and we gave him a little red ribbon with the word
'Champion' in gilt letters. I doubt that he was any prouder the night
he stopped Jim Braddock in
Holman Williams
Williams
describes Carter as: "the only kid at Brewster in those days who was
close to Joe's weight." It was Louis' spirit that tipped Williams off
as to his potential.
"So they fought three or four times
and Joe always was the winner. They gave the crowd action. I remember
one night they fell through the ropes and kept right on punching
outside the ring. I wasn't sure of Joe until that night he fought
Johnny Miller. You remember Miller, of course - a tough, hard-hitting
guy who was
Holman Williams
Eddie
Futch, one of boxing's all-time greatest trainers, was also around at
the time, making himself available as a trainer and corner man. The
legendary trainer has often cited Holman Williams and Charley Burley as
the two greatest fighters he ever had the privilege to see and was
quoted as saying that he would rather watch Holman Williams shadow box
than watch most other fighters in action.
"Holman
Williams was a great boxer, but he never got the recognition because he
wasn't a puncher. He had the finesse of a Ray Robinson, but no punch."
Eddie Futch
The
comment about his lack of a knock out punch may have had an element of
truth to it as Williams once went close to two years and 20 fights
without stopping an opponent. This apparent decrease in power was
largely due to the terrible damage he inflicted upon his hands during
the earlier stages of his boxing career. For his first two years in the
professional game, the Detroit-based fighter had a fifty-percent
knockout ratio and his hands were broken several times during his
career. It appears that as he progressed in the fight game his hands
could no longer take the punishment inflicted by heavy punching and
that ratio soon dropped. Also a point to consider when ranking
Williams’ ability to stop an opponent is the fact that he was
progressing through the weights at a rapid rate and was meeting some
tough fighters.
Williams started as a featherweight in 1932
and five years later he was a top ten rated welterweight with Cocoa
Kid, Fritzie Zivic, Saverio Turiello, Ceferino Garcia, Jack Carrol and
Jimmy Leto in competition with him for Barney Ross’ title. He remained
a top ranked welterweight for the following five years beating the
likes of Jimmy Leto, Eddie Dolan (two fighters Burley lost to), Jackie
Burke, Izzy Jannazo, Ernest ‘Cat’ Robinson, Jose Basora and the
teak-tough Antonio Fernandez. By the time the
The war probably affected
Holman Willliams’ claim for world title honours as deeply as it
impacted upon the two guys rated above him at the end of 1942 – Archie
Moore and Charley Burley. Today both of these great fighters are talked
about with the respect they earned and Holman Williams is no less
deserving. While Zale was in the navy the likes of Williams, Moore,
Burley, Booker, Marshall, Chase, Aaron ‘Tiger’ Wade, Joe Carter, Jose
Basora and Bert Lytell all fought amongst themselves in that vain hope
of securing a championship fight at some point.
In 1942
Williams and Burley met four times, each winning two. Williams also
beat Jose Basora, Cocoa Kid and Kid Tunero. The following year (1943)
he lost on points to these same three fighters in return matches, but
defeated Roosevelt Thomas (twice), Joe Carter (twice), ‘Mad’ Anthony
Jones, Mario Ochoa, Eddie Booker, Lloyd Marshall and Steve Belloise.
Practically every one of them a world ranked fighter. 1944 was almost a
repeat (opponent wise) as he had his busiest year, engaging in 19
fights and added four fights (all wins) against Jack Chase to his
record. He also lost to Eddie Booker in the
1945 was to be the final year that
Williams really shone amongst the worlds’ elite middleweights. He was
in his 13th year as a professional fighter and at the start of the year
he had a record of 134 wins (30 KOs), 21 losses, 10 draws and just one
‘no-contest (against Charley Burley). Most of his defeats had come
against top-flight fighters such as Burley, Booker, Cocoa Kid, Kid
Tunero, Jose Basora and Lloyd Marshall. If you were to try and name
another fighter of that time period with similar fighters on his record
it would only be one of the names already mentioned. The year was to be
a fairly successful one for Williams, despite getting off to a bad
start by losing to Cocoa Kid in
For what were the
remaining three years of a fantastic career it was largely a downhill
ride for the talented Holman Williams. Although he still had enough to
beat Aaron 'Tiger' Wade, dynamite-punching Bob Satterfield, Deacon
Johnny Brown, Henry Hall and O'Neil Bell amongst others, he would lose
11 of his remaining 22 fights. The years began to catch up with him and
his defensive style started to suffer due to a decline in his reflexes.
The war was instrumental in Williams – and others – not getting the
chance they so richly deserved and by the time Tony Zale was out of the
forces and willing to defend his championship Williams was, in boxing
terms, an old man. With his best years behind him he was no longer able
to defend his position as number one contender against the younger
wolves in the chasing pack. He lost to Bert Lytell and Jose Basora
twice, Jake LaMotta, Henry Brimm, Sam Baroudi, and Marcel Cerdan and
Jean Walzak. Williams opposed Cerdan and LaMotta only after he had been
a professional fighter for close to fourteen years (losing to both on
points).
His career ended in June 1948 when he lost a decision over ten rounds to Gentle Daniel in
Several years after his retirement from active competition, Holman moved from
Without doubt, Holman Williams was one of the best fighters
of the 1940s. One look at his record will show that this slick boxing
defensive wizard fought the best welterweights, middleweights and even
light-heavyweights around at the time. Conspicuous by their absence
however, as on most other records of the standout black ring men of the
day, are meetings with big name white fighters. If not for the war,
Williams may have received a title shot against Zale around 1943 or
’44. On the form he was displaying at that time it would have been
difficult to bet against him.
Besides demonstrating his
outstanding talent in the ring, Williams was instrumental in the
development of one of the most highly regarded fighters in the history
of the sport along with the early education of one of the games great
coaches. It is not stretching the truth to say that Holman Williams had
a hand in the legends of both Joe Louis and Eddie Futch. A great asset
in the gym due to his marvelous boxing skills and great sense of humour
Holman was liked by everyone he met and was a credit to the sport. In a
1988 interview with author Ronald K. Fried, Hall-of-Fame inductee
Charley Burley remembered his most frequent adversary with great
affection and respect.
"Me and him, we had some times together!
Charley Burley
You certainly can’t.
© (Harry Otty)