Michael Williams Jr Caves in Under the John Bauza Assault
Prospect Michael Williams Jr (19-1, 12 KOs) had dreams of making a splash in his first high-profile bout as a pro. Instead, it turned out to be disastrous against southpaw John Bauza (16-0, 7 KOs) in an eight-round junior welterweight contest at Madison Square Garden.
Going in, Williams was hoping to silence critics who pointed out the lack of opposition throughout his career. Trained by Hall of Fame inductee Roy Jones Jr, the 22 year-old has been matched with extreme care. Up until Bauza, he had only fought one opponent with a winning record in Thomas Miller (6-3, 3KO). Additionally, in nineteen professional bouts, Williams’ opponents had a combined record of 87 wins, 260 loses and 10 draws!
To add, the fighter from Fayetteville, North Carolina had been known for taunting some of the better fighters in and around his division. In a 2018 interview with 3kingsboxing.com, Williams stated he was hunting down top lightweight contender Ryan Garcia. He also made a social media post in 2020 directly calling out WBC champ Devin Haney. Needless to say, the talk from Williams made many fans have high hopes for his future.
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Bauza’s record was just as suspect. However, the 23-year-old’s last two wins were against fighters with winning records. Both fighters combined for a record of 23-4 with 10 knockouts.
SHAKY FROM THE START
Williams Jr never seemed comfortable from the opening bell as he was moving excessively. Bauza was the more calm and stable fighter. This was evident as with just 32 seconds into the fight, Williams tried to take a page from trainer Roy Jones Jr’s book and lunged in with a straight right. Bauza took a half-step back and immediately countered with a right hook that floored his opponent for the first time!
A minute into round two, Bauza put Williams down on the seat of his pants again with a straight left hand. From that point on, Williams was hesitant to do anything else. He kept jabbing but didn’t have much coming behind it to handle the pressure of his opponent.
At multiple points during the fight, Williams couldn’t keep his footing. He seemed to go down on his own volition and without much resistance. Ringside commentators Tim Bradley and Andre Ward argued he was doing so on purpose and that a point should be taken away.
EASIER THAN EXPECTED?
Then in round four, Bauza put Williams down three times. The Puerto Rican seemed to be surprised he was beating the North Carolina native with such ease as with every knockdown, he seemed to shrug his shoulders and smile at the crowd. After a right, left hook combination put a back-peddling Williams on his back for a fifth time, the referee waived off the fight.
Days before this bout, Williams’ father, Michael Sr mentioned on social media that Williams Jr was going to take some time off to focus on becoming a police officer. In hindsight, that may have been a sign the prospect was not fully invested in this fight.
Or, maybe the enormity of fighting for the first time in the spotlight proved to be too much. In any regard, Michael Williams Jr certainly has a lot of work to do if he wants to bounce back the right way from this loss.
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By: Michael Wilson Jr.
