DaVarryl Jerome Williamson (born July 25, 1968) is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. 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. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, 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 High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

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 Wayne State College is a public college in Wayne, Nebraska. It is part of the Nebraska State College System and enrolls 4,202 students. The college opened as a public normal school in 1910 after the state purchased the private Nebraska Normal Co ...

in Nebraska, graduating in 1993. He is married to Jennifer Williamson.

Boxing career

Amateur career

Williamson started boxing as an amateur at the age of 25. 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 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Williamson failed to qualify, but joined the team as an alternate. 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". As an amateur, Williamson won the

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

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).

Highlights

1996 Olympic Trials Heavyweight *Defeated Harold Sconiers KO 1 *Defeated David Washington KO *Lost to Nate Jones on points 1996 Challengers Olympics Heavyweight *Defeated

Lamon Brewster Lamon Tajuan Brewster (born June 5, 1973) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2010. He held the WBO heavyweight title from 2004 to 2006, and is best known for scoring an upset knockout victory over Wladimir Klitsch ...

on points 1996 Olympics Heavyweight Box-Offs *Lost to Nate Jones on points 1997 United States Heavyweight Championships *Defeated James Jackson KO 1 *Defeated Terry Smith KO 2 *Defeated Calvin Brock KO 3 1997 World Championships in Budapest (Heavyweight) *Defeated Garth da Silva (N-Z) on points *Lost to Mark Simmons] (Can) on points 1998 Tournament in Tampere, Finland (Heavyweight) *Defeated Kai Brankarr (Fin) TKO 1 1998 United States Heavyweight Championships *Defeated Sam Sleezer TKO 2 *Defeated Kevin Montly TKO 1 *Defeated Stanley McClain KO 3 *Defeated Calvin Brock on points 1998 Goodwill Games (Heavyweight) *Defeated Mocerino KO 1 *Defeated Kshinin KO 2 *Lost to

Félix Savón Félix Savón Fabre (born 22 September 1967) is a retired Cuban amateur boxer, who competed from 1980 to 2000. Considered one of the all-time greatest amateur boxers, he became three-time Olympic gold medalist, and the World Champion six times ...

(Cub) KO 1 1999: United States Heavyweight Championships *Defeated Sifou Sua KO 4 *Lost to Jason Estrada on points 1999: Golden Gloves (Heavyweight) *Defeated

Devin Vargas Devin Vargas (born December 25, 1981) is an American professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games and competed at the 2004 Olympics, both in the heavyweight division. Amateur career Vargas had a ...

KO *Defeated Patrick Nuwamu KO *Defeated Jason Estrada on points *Defeated Jeremiah Muhammad KO 2 *Defeated Michael Bennett (boxer) KO 2 1999 Multi-National Tournament in Liverpool, England (Heavyweight:) *Defeated Kevin Evans (Gal) TKO *Lost to Garth Da Silva (N-Z) on points 2000 Olympic Trials Heavyweight *Defeated Anthony Stewart points *Defeated Mike Kirkman points *Lost to Michael Bennett (boxer) points 2000 Challengers Round Olympic Trials Heavyweight *Lost to Malik Scott points

Professional career

Williamson made his professional debut in 2000 at the age of 32. He won his first eighteen fights out of 19, with 16 of them by knockout (KO) inside the first five rounds 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. Afterwards, Williamson defeated Kendrick Releford by fifth-round TKO and Cuban contender Eliecer Castillo by majority decision before facing

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол� ...

. The fight took place at Caesars Palace in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. Williamson dropped Klitschko forty seconds into the second 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. 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. 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. Following the win over Jefferson, Williamson received a title shot against

Chris Byrd Christopher Cornelius Byrd (born August 15, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2009. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having first won the WBO title in 2000 after an upset corner stoppage over th ...

for the IBF world heavyweight title. The bout took place in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, and was the main event of

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cases against him, as well a ...

's card that included

James Toney James Nathaniel Toney (born August 24, 1968) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2017. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the IBF and lineal middleweight titles from 1991 to 1 ...

fighting

Dominick Guinn Dominick Alexander Guinn (born April 20, 1975) is an American professional boxer. He is self-managed and he is trained by Ronnie Shields and Alexander Gutierrez. He stands at 6'3" tall. Known as the "Southern Disaster",Gerbasi, Thomas (2013)Domi ...

. The fight, which some observers expected to be "explosive", was marked by a series of feints and clinches. 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. 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 Mike Mollo (born February 11, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. A fan favorite for his aggressive style in Chicago, Mollo is perhaps best known for his bouts with Polish fighters Art Binkowski, Artur Szpilka, Andrew Golota, and Kr ...

within four rounds each, before facing former world title challenger

Kali Meehan Kalivati Gerald Meehan (born 9 March 1970) is an Australian professional boxer of Fijian descent. He turned pro after a career in rugby league. His son Willis Meehan plays rugby league and boxes. Amateur career Before becoming professional, ...

on October 6, 2007 at Madison Square Garden. Williamson, who was 39 years old at the time, lost by sixth-round TKO. 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. After that, Williamson fought sporadically, having fought three times before retiring in 2014 after losing to

Eric Molina The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

at the age of 45.

Professional boxing record

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Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Robert Wiggins , UD , 10 , 10/01/2003 , align=left, Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Corey Sanders , TKO , 5 , 26/07/2002 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Antonio Colbert , TKO , 1 , 06/07/2001 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Ronnie Smith , RTD , 2 , 24/08/2000 , align=left, Coeur d'Alene Casino, Worley, Idaho , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Gregory Dial , KO , 2 , 04/08/2000 , align=left, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino,

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Accolades

* Williamson was inducted to Colorado Hall of Fame 2022 *National Golden Gloves Champion - 1996, 1999 *

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

national amateur heavyweight champion – 1996, 1997, 1998 (first and only heavyweight to win the championships three times in a row) *10-Time National Amateur Boxing Champion * Goodwill Games Silver Medalist - 1998 *

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Olympic Team - First Alternate - 1996 * U.S. Olympic Festival Champion - 1995 *American Boxing Classic Champion - 1995, 1996, 1999 * National Police Athletic League Champion - 1999 *His professional opponents have a combined record of 337–150–6

References

External links

DaVarryl Williamson's TOS Boxing Gym
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Davarryl Boxers from Colorado Heavyweight boxers National Golden Gloves champions Northern Michigan University alumni Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers Wayne State Warriors football players 1968 births Living people American male boxers Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games