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Williams stops Forrest to retain Welterweight title
Jan. 31, 2013 -- When the inaugural LSUBF Welterweight tournament concluded, Vernon Forrest became the first division champion with a 15-round majority decision win over Paul Williams.
More than 3 1/2 years later, Williams got his revenge.
Williams made his third defense since winning the title against Tommy Ryan last May, and he ground down Forrest (23-6-1, 13 KO) en route to an 11th round stoppage.
Forrest starting strong with a dominant opening round, but Williams answered with a strong second round during which he cut Forrest above his right eye, a cut that gave Forrest problems over the next several rounds.
But Forrest responded by letting it all hang out in rounds 8 and 9, the best of the fight, as both fighters traded frequent heavy leather that raised the crowd to its collective feet.
Controversy hit in the 10th, when action was stopped as Forrest was dominating Williams to check on the status of Forrest's cut.
Forrest's corner would come back to this moment after the 11th, when Williams put Forrest down twice before referee Dick Flaherty stopped the fight to give Williams the TKO win.
Forrest's camp was irate, arguing not that Forrest wasn't in bad shape when the fight was halted, but that he was on his way to taking Williams out in the 10th before the cut check.
Williams improved to 19-4-2 (10 KOs).
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