‘Bang’ hopes to make an explosive debut
HOLLYWOOD — Eight years ago you could have found Antonio “Bang” Williams honing his boxing skills at Mills Pond Park — running, hitting the pads and pushing a Toyota Camry.
“He was small,” Macy Braziel, Williams’ stepfather and trainer, said of those days, “like 9 years old, 10. I had him push [the car] probably like about a half mile up, and then push it back down.”
The payoff for that training begins Thursday in Aguascalientes, Mexico, when Williams, a Fort Lauderdale resident, makes his pro debut with a four-round fight against Mariano Diaz (3-2) in the 126-pound weight class.
Williams, who will graduate from Dillard High School this year and eventually wants to become a firefighter, decided to give up his Olympic dream to go pro, and he has no regrets.
“I’ve got the style for it,” said Williams, now 18. “I could do both — Olympics, and I’ve got a pro style.”
Williams started boxing at age 8. He has a 104-15 amateur record and is a two-time state Golden Gloves winner. He also has multiple national titles, including the Ringside World Championship, Junior National Golden Gloves, Paul Murphy Title Belt Championship and the National Silver Gloves.
Williams throws a crushing left hook. But he doesn’t have knockout power. “Not yet,” he said. Williams says that might come now that he’s moving up to the pro level, where fighters don’t wear headgear.
“I don’t have any knockouts, I just have a lot of stoppages,” he said. “I’ve got knockout power. When the headgear comes off, I’ve got that knockout power.”
Williams first became interested in the sport when one of Braziel’s other sons was boxing, which prompted Williams to inquire about it. Around that same time Williams was playing youth football and he sustained a hand injury.
“That’s when I took him out of football,” Braziel said. “I said, ‘We’ve got to go into boxing.’”
Williams started at the Lauderhill Police Athletic League (PAL). When that gym closed, he began working out at Mills Pond Park.
Eventually Williams found a home at the Boca Raton PAL, which provided the facility and financing for most of his travels when he won his national titles.
“If it wasn’t for them,” Braziel said, “he wouldn’t be where he’s at now.”
After early amateur success, Williams, then15, drew the eye of Henry Rivalta, coowner of ProBox Management. Williams sparred against a professional who had a 19-0 record and whipped him in impressive fashion.
“I just couldn’t believe how a little guy who didn’t have any power or pop at that time could do that,” Rivalta said.
Such performances also impressed Williams’ mother, Devona Braziel, who supports his decision to go pro.
“It just made sense. I knew he was ready,” she said. “I saw him hold his own when he would spar against the professionals, so thatwas a good decision for him.”
But that’s not the only thing that truly gives her pride.
“I’m proud that he’ll be graduating,” she said. “So he will finish getting his education for his diploma. He’s just developing into a young man.”
Thursday’s fight will speed up the learning curve significantly.
“It’s a whole lot different from the amateurs,” Macy Braziel said. “You’ve got to put them pants on when you get in there.
“It’s grown men now. It’s not any baby stuff.”
“When the headgear comes off, I’ve got that knockout power.” Antonio Williams, fights in 126-pound weight class