How many times have we heard that such a boxer would win against another with one hand only? A well-known metaphor that implies a clear superiority and that naturally should not be taken literally. However, someone managed to give a different meaning to the expression, achieving the incredible feat of winning a fight by knockout when his strong arm was already out of use. This someone is the English heavyweight Danny Williams, and the incredible story we are about to tell you took place on October 21, 2000, at the Wembley Conference Center.
Alongside Williams in the ring that evening was his compatriot Mark Potter: the derby was even more intense because two boxers, both originally from the London urban area, were facing each other, and because before the fight, the two had not minced words, promising fire and flames. Potter was an aggressive and brave boxer but technically modest, which is why he was the clear underdog of the event.
Almost as if to preannounce a memorable night, the match opened with an immediate twist: Potter attacked the more quoted rival with great ferocity and concluded a beautiful combination of punches with a precise right to the jaw. Williams lost the support of his left foot simultaneously with the blow received, presumably due to it, and found himself on the canvas to the general astonishment, but referee John Coyle did not validate the Knock Down, judging the fall to be the result of a slip. Potter was not influenced by the wrong done to him and continued to attack furiously, clearly winning the round. Even the second round opened with a controversial episode: a right from Williams, apparently deflected by Potter’s shoulder and therefore off target, caused the latter to lose his balance and fall. This time, Mr. Coyle performed the count, then compensating for his questionable decision shortly after by penalizing Williams with a rather severe point deduction for low blows.
The fight was therefore exciting and full of surprises in the first two rounds, but the best was yet to come. Throwing a wild right, Williams dislocated his shoulder during the third round. The unnatural position of the limb immediately appeared clear to spectators and commentators, and the black boxer stoically managed to finish the round using only his left arm, then resetting the bone in its housing with the help of cornermen during the break. The next two rounds were a real nightmare for poor Danny, forced to limit the use of his right arm to the minimum, as Potter’s pressure became increasingly suffocating. And as it always rains when it pours, the referee awarded Williams two more point deductions for a very evident low blow, probably carried out in exasperation.
At the beginning of the sixth round, Potter was clearly ahead on the scorecards and seemed to have the fight in hand. Williams then, forced to dare to try to set things right, imprudently resorted again to straight rights, which had been stored away during the previous rounds. In less than no time, his shoulder betrayed him again, and this time in an even more traumatic way, so much so that the boxer could not even lift his right arm anymore, finding himself forced to let it hang along his side. Potter smelled blood and pounced on his prey, trying to bend his last resistances, but just as the commentators were already calling for the referee to stop the fight and while Williams’ team was about to throw in the towel, the miracle happened: a deadly left uppercut, thrown with the force of desperation, hit Potter’s chin from below, stunning him and making him collapse to the canvas! The crowd was ecstatic! Potter got up with immense effort, saving himself from a knockout by a fraction of a second, but his legs no longer responded to commands, and after two more quick knockdowns, he was stopped by the referee.
As soon as the fight ended, everyone noticed the look of pain on Danny Williams’ face, who had concealed his discomfort until that moment but who, at the end of the contest, appeared in pain like never before as the doctor and his cornermen tried to assist him. His arm was hastily wrapped in a bandage, and the boxer was then taken to the hospital for the necessary treatment. Upon leaving the facility, he was greeted by thunderous applause from the crowd, still incredulous and excited by that superb demonstration of courage and willpower. Danny Williams’ feat teaches us that even when all seems lost, we must not give up, and that a fearless heart combined with fierce determination and a pinch of recklessness can make a man capable of rising from any abyss, no matter how deep and dark it may be.