The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHERMAN “The Tank” Williams said he was disappointed Saturday night in Carson, California - not so much with the outcome of his fight against Gerald ‘Gallo Negro’ Washington - but with the fact that he wasn’t able to get on the inside as he has done in the past against previous compatible opponents.

“The guy was so awkward because of his height. We expected him to do a lot of holding on the inside and unfortunately for me, he was able to execute his game plan a little better than I would,” Williams said. “My corner, John David Jackson, brought the point up to the referee of Washington’s excessive holding.

“I knew I had to fight on the inside, but every time I got in, he was able to hold me and the referee would call a break and he stopped it several times to warn me for punching after he called for the break. I was kind of frustrated because I wasn’t able to use my mental game plan.”

In what was described as a run of the mill eight round heavyweight fight, former USC defensive end Washington improved to 8-0 with five knockouts as he continued his rise through the ranks as he defeated his toughest opponent on paper, 40-year-old Sherman “Tank” Williams, who dropped to 35-13-2 with 19KOs with an unanimous decision.

All three judges - Carla Caiz, Jonathan Davis and Gwen Adair - scored it 79-72 in favour of Washington, a former USC defensive end who has appeared on at least two NFL teams’ training rosters.

The 6”5’ tall Washington of San Jose, CA, was the much taller of the two and after some posturing from both looking for their range, was the first to attack with long right hands to the back of the ear of the crouching Williams, a native of Grand Bahama now residing in Vero Beach, Florida.

With only 12 months as a professional, Washington still seems to be looking for his style and seemed stiff in throwing his power punches, especially the uppercut. Despite that, he was able to land a huge one from his right hand that caught Williams flush on the chin and deposited him on the canvas. The veteran was able to beat the count and soon began to find holes in the armour of the much more built Washington.

Williams, whose biggest name on his dossier was none other than Evander Holyfield who he fought to a no-contest in 2011, also had the former champion John David Jackson in his corner.

By the fourth, the crowd began to get restless as both fighters were more interested in pawing out a lazy jab and looking for a comfortable range than any sustained action.

Williams was having trouble getting on the inside of Washington’s long arms but noticed that “Gallo Negro” tended to go straight back in retreat instead of using lateral movement so he began to throw wide left hooks to the chin.

The strategy at times proved to be successful for the “Tank” but not often enough as despite his large frame, Washington was very mobile. Williams was able to land some decent right hands to the chin of Washington but it was too little so at the end of the eight rounds.

Williams noted that from the first round, he tried to push the pace and take the fight to Washington. But he noted that as the rounds continued, it got even more difficult for him to execute his plan. His inability to take control of the fight resulted in Williams getting floored in the second round.

“I tried to get in to catch him with an overhand right, but this guy was literally leaping backwards,” Williams said. “He was trying hard not to be in my punching range. I jabbed him to the chest and I stepped in and he threw a left hook and a right that knocked me off balance.

“I went down, but I wasn’t hurt in the fight. They scored it a knockdown, giving him a 10-8 round and from that point, I knew I had to get in a zone and catch up. In the third and the fourth round, despite getting knocked down in the second round, I came back. I did all I could to push him backyards, but he was reluctant to tangle with me. He threw a lot of 1-2s as he kept his distance.”

In the sixth round, Williams said he finally stunned Washington, but he couldn’t continue the onslaught to keep him down.

“I was disappointed that the referee, after warning Washington multiple times, never ever took a point and it kind of irritated me a bit,” Williams said. “In the sixth, the referee wanted to take a point from me because I had expressed my displeasure in not so much a polite way.”

After turning the heat up a bit to take the seventh round, Williams said Washington got a little scared and went on the run in the eighth, stopping any further attempt by Williams to get back on the inside to try and steal the victory.

“Nobody wants to pick up a loss. It’s a minor setback for me,” Williams said. “The guy was undefeated. This was on a Showtime undercard, so it won’t hurt me that much from a professional standpoint. But it has set me back a bit and I have to look at coming back with a few big wins from here.

“This is like the second 6-5 guy that I fought in a row and maybe my manager and team will look at matching me up with someone that is a little more evenly (height) so I can pick up one or two more wins. But I feel good. Thank God. I was hurting. I didn’t sustain any injuries.”

After taking a couple of weeks off to recuperate, including making a trip home, Williams said he will be back in the gym training in his quest to avenge his disappointing loss. He said he might even look at an offer that has been on the table since April for him to fight in his hometown of Grand Bahama in July or August for the WBC Caribbean Continental title.

As the fight against Washington was a non-title one, Williams is still in possession of his WBO China Zone and WBO Asia Pacific heayweight titles that he won over Chauncey Welliver on June 28, 2012 at the Grand Waldo Conference & Exhibition Centre in Macau, China.