Paul Williams, Arreola Overcome Adversity to Win

Paul Williams, bouncing between weight classes with ease, stopped 39-year-old Verno Phillips to capture the interim WBO junior middleweight title. Williams suffered a nasty cut above his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in the first round. However, that was the only adversity Williams faced as he dominated Phillips in round after round with his long reach, busy work rate and effective body work. Phillips was never knocked down but after eight one-sided rounds, the ring doctor had seen enough and stopped the fight due to the accumulation of punishment absorbed by the three-time former champ.

Punch Stats: Total Punches: Williams - 227 of 682 (33%), Phillips - 91 of 396 (23%). Power Punches: Williams - 210 of 489 (43%), Phillips - 88 of 366 (24%).

Williams appears ready to fight anyone from 147 to 160 with an Antonio Margarito rematch (if he gets past Shane Mosley) being the most attractive bout. Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto would also make intriguing opponents.

Heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola survived a scare to stop Travis Walker and keep his unbeaten record intact. Walker dominated Arreola in the first and knocked him down with a straight right hand in the second. Arreola did not appear badly hurt and got up to knock Walker down twice later in the round. Walker still appeared hurt when he came out for the third round and Arreola quickly dropped him with a big left hook, prompting the referee to call a halt to the action just 13 seconds into the round.

Punch Stats: Total Punches: Arreola - 44 of 81 (54%), Walker - 43 of 190 (23%). Power Punches: Arreola - 36 of 55 (65%), Walker - 33 of 105 (31%).

After the fight, Arreola proclaimed himself ready for a title shot with either Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. While he showed great resilience, Arreola also displayed a fat midsection (weighing in at a very soft 254) and an easy-to-find chin. The 27-year-old contender may get a title shot soon because he's fun to watch and the heavyweight division is devoid of young talent ... but Arreola still has to work on his conditioning and defense before he's truly ready to win a title.