DaVarryl Jerome Williamson (born July 25, 1968)[3] is an American former professional boxer. A highly-touted amateur, he challenged once for the IBF world heavyweight title in 2005.
Early and personal life
Williamson was raised in poverty in the inner city Washington D.C., born to a mother addicted to drugs and a criminal father. He spent his youth moving between foster homes and between schools until his father chose to resume contact at the age of 11. An accomplished high school football star, he attended Rochester Community and Technical College in Minnesota on a scholarship. Williamson later transferred on a scholarship to play for NCAA Division II Wayne State College in Nebraska, graduating in 1993.[1]
Williamson started boxing as an amateur at the age of 25.[1] In January 1995, he received an offer to join the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Michigan, in order to qualify at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Williamson failed to qualify, but joined the team as an alternate.[1] Standing 6 ft 3 in tall, Williamson gained popularity for his punching power, mainly for his clubbing right-hand haymaker, which became known as "Touch of Sleep".[1][2] As an amateur, Williamson won the National Golden Gloves heavyweight championships in 1996 and 1999, and United States national amateur championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and built a record of 120 wins, 17 losses and 1 draw, with 103 wins coming by knockout (88% KO rate).[1]
Williamson made his professional debut in 2000 at the age of 32.[5] He won his first eighteen fights out of 19, with 16 of them by knockout (KO) inside the first five rounds[6] before facing another undefeated hard-hitting heavyweight Joe Mesi. In the opening minute, Mesi hit Williamson with a right-left combination, unleashing a barrage of punches which ultimately put Williamson down. Davarryl was not able to get up at the count of ten, declaring Mesi the winner by first-round KO.[7]
Afterwards, Williamson defeated Kendrick Releford by fifth-round TKO and Cuban contender Eliecer Castillo by majority decision before facing Wladimir Klitschko. The fight took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5] Williamson dropped Klitschko forty seconds into the fourth round, but was unable to capitalize on it. An accidental head butt in the closing seconds of the fifth round caused Klitschko bleeding from a cut above his right eye. Due to the cut, the fight was prematurely stopped, with Klitschko being declared the winner by technical decision. Two of the judges scored the fight identically 49–46 in favor of Klitschko, while the third judge had Williamson winning 48–47.[8][9]
Just one month after the bout, Williamson defeated former world champion, 39-year old Oliver McCall, who was on the comeback trail and lost 19 lbs for this bout, by unanimous decision.[10] He then faced former world title challenger Derrick Jefferson less than three months later, stopping him in the second round. Both fights took place at Madison Square Garden.[5] Following the win over Jefferson, Williamson received a title shot against Chris Byrd for the IBF world heavyweight title. The bout took place in Reno, Nevada, and was the main event of Don King's card that included James Toney fighting Dominick Guinn.[11] The fight, which some observers expected to be "explosive", was marked by a series of feints and clinches.[12] The bout went full twelve rounds, with Byrd being declared the winner by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 116–112 and one judge scoring it 115–113. The end of the fight was followed with boos from the crowd.[12] Following the fight it was revealed Williamson had postponed elbow surgery.
Following the loss, Williamson won two fights, beating journeyman Maurice Wheeler and undefeated prospect Mike Mollo within four rounds each,[5] before facing former world title challenger Kali Meehan on October 6, 2007 at Madison Square Garden. Williamson, who was 39 years old at the time, lost by sixth-round TKO.[5] He got his last chance to fight for the title in 2009, facing Ray Austin in the WBC heavyweight title eliminator, but was stopped in the fourth round.[13] After that, Williamson fought sporadically, having fought three times before retiring in 2014 after losing to Eric Molina at the age of 45.[5]
