King Arthur Williams Interview: Floyd versus Canelo, Tommy Morrison, Jirov, and More
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
In a Real Combat Media international exclusive, former World Cruiserweight champion King Arthur Williams, now training amateur and professional boxers in Las Vegas, Nevada, weighed in on the pending Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez Las Vegas fight card extravaganza, his last world championship bout with Vassily Jirov and the contractual disputes surrounding it, and his dream of opening his own gym.
Real Combat Media: “You were in the gym in as Vegas in 1995 when Tommy Morrison
was getting ready to fight Lennox Lewis for the world heavyweight title? Did he expose any
other boxers in the gym to the HIV virus?”
King Arthur Williams: “I never sparred with Morrison. We trained in the same boxing
Top Rank boxing gym in Las Vegas in 1991 and 1992. Not really. If he was sick-you
couldn’t tell. He looked healthy, and he was training hard for the fight. If he had AIDS at
that time, I couldn’t tell.”
Real Combat Media: “Tommy Morrison went public with the announcement he had tested
positive for the HIV virus in Las Vegas. He had intended to fight Arthur Weathers in Las
Vegas in February 1996, after losing his title bout with Lennox Lewis on October 7, 1995,
in Atlantic City, New Jersey.”
King Arthur Williams: “Tommy Morrison was working out in the Top Rank gym. It could be possible, you never know (Morrison might have had the virus when he fought Lennox Lewis). He still was fighting in 1996 in Japan (after Morrison tested positive for the HIV virus). I couldn’t understand why Japan let him fight after they knew he had the virus.”
Real Combat Media: “Morrison made a later comeback over ten years later claiming a false positive HIV test, fighting in jurisdictions where his blood was not tested.”
King Arthur Williams: “That don’t sound right, right there, if he was doing that. They (boxing commissions) were supposed to force him to take (the required) blood tests, and then not let him fight. If that’s the case, the boxing the boxing commission won’t let you fight if you test positive for HIV. Small states down south, the Midwest, it’s possible (to get approved without getting tested). Some fighters get banned here (for various reasons) and go overseas to fight. I don’t understand that, to tell the truth.”
Real Combat Media: “Did you share equipment with Morrison? Morrison was in the gym in Las Vegas in the Fall of 1995 getting ready for Lennox Lewis while you were in the gym?”
King Arthur Williams: “Everybody was using the same equipment. Heavy bag, stuff like that. Blood got on the ring-the canvas, the boxing ropes, the corner pads-when somebody got cut.”
Real Combat Media: “Morrison stated on the Maury Povich Show in February 1996 that he had not been sick for three years when he tested HIV Positive.”
King Arthur Williams: “Morrison looked very healthy at the time when I saw him in the gym in Las Vegas in the Fall of 1995, he was in great shape. I never sparred with him.”
Real Cobmat Media: “King Arthur, what fighters are you training now?”
King Arthur Williams: I am training a 30-4 fighter from Uganda now, going out at 160 to 175 pounds. He was offered a last minute fight on the Mayweather-Alvarez undercard Saturday night. His manager was contacted at the gym where I train him. “
Real Combat Media: “Can Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Canelo Alvarez?”
King Arthur Williams: “Floyd will beat Alvarez, but Floyd gonna be in a fight. It’s a tough fight for Floyd. Canelo is young, undefeated, a world champion and strong! Floyd better not stand in front of the guy, he has to keep moving. If Canelo gets inside on Floyd and Floyd stands in front of him too much, the fight could end in Canelo’s favor. If Floyd stays on the outside, he has a better chance of beating Canelo.”
Real Combat Media: “Where should Floyd NOT be during the fight?”
King Arthur Williams: “ I don’t think Floyd should stay on the ropes, because Canelo’s gonna bang him on the arms, the body and everywhere, that’s the real chance Canelo will have if he has one if Floyd stands in front of him. Floyd can’t stay on the ropes with this guy as he normally do.”
Real Combat Media: “Who hits harder, Floyd or Canelo?”
King Arthur Williams: “Floyd can punch, don’t get me wrong. Canelo has more power than Floyd. Canelo’s a big puncher, more like a middleweight. Floyd cannot stand in front of Canelo too long. Canelo is a power puncher.”
Real Combat Media: “Could Floyd get knocked down by Canelo during the bout?”
King Arthur Williams: “It’s possible. Floyd could get knocked down, even knocked out. Canelo is a power puncher. If Floyd slips up, if Floyd makes too many mistakes, it’s all over. Can’t nobody in his weight class outbox Floyd in a technical bout.”
Real Combat Media: “Any predictions for the undercard bouts?”
King Arthur Williams: “I heard a lot about the Argentinian light welterweight dude Lucas Matthysse. He’s got a big punch, and he’s gonna win the WBA WBC Light Welterweight World title fight against Danny Garcia. Ishe Smith better be careful. If Ishe don’t box on the outside and stay away from Carlos Molina, he’s gonna get knocked out and lose his IBF World Light Middleweight title if Molina gets inside. Ishe has to outbox Molina on the outside. The winner could get Floyd next.”
Real Combat Media: “Is it true your friend Roy Jones Jr. is going to fight next month?”
King Arthur Williams: “I hear Roy is supposed to be fighting for WBO Middleweight and Super Middleweight champion Steve Collins in Atlantic City. Collins has been out of the ring for 15 years and is 49 years old. He is too old to fight Roy after being out of the ring for so long.”
Real Combat Media: “You were supposed to make a boxing comeback on a card in Chile earlier this year which was rumored to have Rob Calloway and Al Cole on it.”
King Arthur Williams: “The boxing card scheduled in Chile was cancelled.”
Real Combat Media: “You lost your last bout, a 10 round decision for the vacant USBO Cruiserweight title to Carl Davis in Chicago, who later beat Bert Cooper.”
King Arthur Williams: “I won that bout. They gave it to the hometown boy. The motel where the promoters put me up had no treadmill or weight scale, so I had to run off the excess weight the next day after the weigh-in. If the motel had a treadmill and scale like it was supposed to have for fighters staying there, my life would have been easier before the bout.”
Real Combat Media: “It has been almost 15 years since you lost your International Boxing Federation World Cruiserweight title to the then 20-0 Vassiliy Jirov (now retired) in 1999, and never got the contractually guaranteed rematch. Will you now reveal the truth about why the rematch never took place?”
King Arthur Williams: “Murad Muhammad was promoting me. He offered me the opportunity to fight Jirov for $150,000 dollars or something like that. I should have gotten more as the bout was on the undercard to a Roy Jones Jr. bout. Two months before the bout, Murad Muhammad guaranteed me a rematch, but he never put it in writing. He told me to start training for the fight. So I went to Prince Ranch training camp in Mount Charleston, in the mountains above Las Vegas, the first world champion to train there.”
Real Combat Media: “Explain the distractions which affected your state of mind before the bout as they occurred.”
King Arthur Williams: “I’m training hard to defend my world title. Then what happened, it’s almost fight time. My lawyer was a sports attorney. Murad Muhammad and Roy Jones’ lawyer engaged me in a three way conversation. They said they could not guarantee me a rematch clause before the fight. I still had not signed the contract. When they said that, I got mad and gave the telephone to my trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. He told me to go back to the gym and finish training. They had called me at a bad time. They upset me. I was missing my pads again and again, as the call had upset me. Mustafa asked me if I still wanted the fight? I said I would be alright.”
Real Combat Media: “What happened the night of the fight? At the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi?”
King Arthur Williams: “I flew to Biloxi. They had a big arena. My lawyer said my rematch clause would be in the contract, Murad said it to him. I was stupid, he should have told Murad to fax him both contracts, mine and Jirov’s. My lawyer did not do that. Murad tricked me, and called me into a room at a sitting table. He pointed out in the contract where it said rematch, like it was legit. I did sign the contract to fight Jirov.”
Real Combat Media: “Flash forward to the dressing room on the night of the world championship bout?”
King Arthur Williams: “The HBO lady walks into my dressing room before the fight, and said to me ‘Arthur, you come out first’. That pissed me off. I got mad. It distracted me. Then Jirov came out first. My game plan was to outbox Jirov and stay away from him. When they distracted him, it affected my training. I could not focus. The bout was stopped, and I was glad because I had been badly hurt. I talked to Murad after the bout, and he said I would fight the rematch on the next card. Murad kept saying it would be the next fight and the next fight. Murad wasn’t paying attention, my contract was running out and he didn’t know. Murad was making money with Roy. After that I switched sports attorneys to a sports attorney who worked for Bob Arum.”
Real Combat Media: “Did you go to court with your new attorney at that point?”
King Arthur Williams: “My new attorney called Murad and found out Jirov had signed a separate contract with Roy. Jirov’s contract stated I could get a rematch only if Roy fought Jirov first. He tried to get a fight with Roy, and Roy had agreed to it because Roy wanted to move up to cruiserweight and fight the guy. My lawyer said we’ve got a good lawsuit against Murad or Roy. Roy and I grew up together. We went out and sued Murad. My lawyer got cancer and he died. My lawsuit fell to the statute of limitations, as my lawyer had passed away. Roy never fought Jirov, as Murad knew my lawyer was on top of them. The Roy versus Jirov bout never happened.
Real Combat Media: “King Arthur, what are your future plans?”
King Arthur Williams: “”I want to have a gym of my own. I want to help out young people and the community back in Pensacola. I’d like to open up a gym in Las Vegas too. I want to open up a gym in Florida first. There are lots of boxing gyms in Las Vegas, Nevada.”
Real Combat Media: Do you miss being a world boxing champion? What does it feel like when you are there?”
King Arthur Williams: “Fight fans screaming, you hear all that. When you win the title, everybody looks up to you and wants your autograph. Traveling and going to different places as the champion, meeting people, you get a rush out of that. I think about it from time to time.”
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