The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahamian Sherman “The Tank” Williams made good of his return to the ring on Friday night. Now he’s hoping that he can continue that success when he fights for the World Boxing Council’s Continental heavyweight title against Kubart ‘the Cobra’ Pulev on December 20 in Munich, Germany.

Williams, 41, pulled off a fourth round unanimous decision over Earl Ladson from North Carolina at the Ritz in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was his first fight since he lost his second straight on June 8 to Gerald Washington at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

“It was good to get back in the ring,” said Williams in an interview with The Tribune from his home in Vero Beach, Florida. “I had a fight lined up in Europe that fell through. I was in the gym training, so when this opportunity came up, I took the fight on a week’s notice.

“I was able to use my jab to establish control of the fight. I was able to easily win every round. I took the fight to Ladson and beat him in front of his home crowd. I knew I had to be impressive in order to win. I established the jab from the first round and I caught him with an overhand right and, at that point, he went on his bicycle and he showed a lot of respect for my conch punch as I kept pressing him and hitting him with the double jab and cruised to an unanimous decision.”

Williams, who has a 36-13-2 win-loss-draw record, said it was good to get rid of the cob webs and shake off the ring rust to get another victory under his belt - the first since he won a 12-round decision over Chauncy ‘the Hillyard Hammer’ Welliver on June 28, 2011 at the Grand Waldo Conference & Exhibition Centre in Macau, Macao.

On December 15, Williams is scheduled to travel to Germany where he is slated to take on Pulev from Bulgaria. Pulev, who stands at 6-feet, 4 1/2 inches, is undefeated at 18-0. His last outing was on August 24 when he pulled off a 12-round unanimous decision over Tony Thompson for the IBF International heavyweight title in Germany. He also holds the European Boxing Union’s title.

Pulev, 32, is with the same promotional company that Williams fought for when he went to Helsinki, Finland to fight Robert Helenius, losing a 10-round unanimous decision at the Ice Hall on November 10, 2012.

“They arranged this fight for me against Ladson, which enabled me to jump back into the WBC rankings,” Williams said. “So I’m back in the gym now because I need a lot of preparation to pull a big win off over the Bulgarian. He is 6-foot, three-inches and 260 pounds and was a silver medallist in the 2006 Olympics. He had over 300 amateur fights.

“He’s definitely experienced, but I want to use this fight to get me a chance to fight Vitali Klitschko from Ukraine (the WBC champion). Word is that my opponent had a fight with him, but he wasn’t ready for that challenge. But I’m hoping that I can take his position and I get a chance to fight Vitali Klitschko for his title.”

Going to Germany to fight, Williams said he only wishes that he can get a neutral judge to bring some impartiality to the panel and give him a fair shake to secure the title.

“I don’t want to be walking into the same situation that I normally do when I go and fight overseas,” he said. “I just don’t like the fact that I may have to face an all-German judging panel. But I’m back in the gym and I will be working through the Thanksgiving holiday when everybody is celebrating. I want to get myself in the best shape to be able to go to Germany and pull off this victory.”

After his victory, Williams said he’s feeling fantastic and he’s looking forward to continuing his career.

“Friday night was a dress rehearsal to see where I’m at,” he said. “I’m not injured, I’m feeling great and my weight is coming down dramatically, so I think I passed the test with perfect colours, so I just have to stay in the gym and get ready for the 12-round fight.”

In addition to training and fighting, Williams has also been busy, doing a lot of mentorship with the youngsters.

“This is something that I’ve been doing since 2009 and I want to do a lot more to help get some of these youths back on the straight and narrow path,” Williams said. “Hopefully I can come back home and do the same thing in Nassau and in Grand Bahama. I sent an invitation to the Minister of Sports (Dr Daniel Johnson) and Wellington Miller (the president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee) that whenever they need me, I will be available to carry out my new found passion with the Bahamian people.”