The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SHERMAN “Tank” Williams’ return to the ring hit a major snag with the withdrawal of Romanian heavyweight Bogdan Dinu from this weekend’s bout.

Williams (35-12-2) was scheduled to face the 26-year-old Dinu (9-0-0) on May 17. However, the negotiations between the two camps deteriorated over the past week and Dinu withdrew from the fight just a day before Williams was set to travel to Romania.

“It is extremely disappointing. My whole team, we are very disappointed. It ended this way because of course we were looking forward to this fight. I had great weeks of training and I hope in the very near future, my management team is able to book a fight soon. The guys at the top of the heavyweight division, they get to ‘cherry pick’ their fights, and finding people to step into the ring is the most uncomfortable and uneasy part of my championship journey,” he said.

Williams, the holder of the WBO China Zone heavyweight title and WBO Asia Pacific heavyweight title, said Dinu and his team attempted to make a number of structural changes to the fight.

“We were supposed to leave Florida on Monday, and received no official word from them as to why they backed out of the fight. During sparring we got a phone call from the Dinu camp saying they wanted to change the terms of the fight, specifically to change it from a 10-round fight to an eight-round fight. Then shortly after that they tried to negotiate it to a six-round fight and, at that point, everything started to fall apart,” he said.

“My camp, specifically my trainer John David Jackson, was uncomfortable with a six-round fight. All he would have to do is run and hold for six rounds and he would get the win. We told them that was unacceptable, but we would have considered an eight-round fight with an international referee and international judge. They were obviously unwilling to compromise with that. The whole card was cancelled...it’s definitely a burn and this is a part of what is wrong with boxing. State by state, country by country, they get to create their own rules, face no penalties and no sanctions, and the fighters suffer.”

Williams’ manager, Sy Stern, said the team will get back to the drawing board as they search for a suitable fight.

“One of the problems we have is that ‘Tank’ is a strong fighter, people will cancel fights because they fear a loss or for whatever reason and when people get to do things without restrictions you have these sort of things going on periodically,” he said.

“‘Tank’ has a very good name, he’s well respected in the fight game so we should not be without a fight for very long. There are a number of options, chances of him going back to fight in China will be very good. There is a lot more stability there, as well as other places in Europe, so only a matter of being patient.”

Williams’ last appearance in the ring was in November 2012 when he lost a 10-round unanimous decision to heavyweight contender Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Finland.