Arthur James Williams (November 12, 1964 – April, 2023) was 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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed between 1989 and 2010. He held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1998 to 1999 and challenged twice for the WBA cruiserweight title in 1994.

Professional career

Williams became professional in 1989 and fell short in his first shot at a major

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

ship title, a 1994 split-decision loss to Orlin Norris for the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

Cruiserweight Title. Williams was

knocked out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the third round in a rematch with Norris later that year.

IBF cruiserweight champion

It was not until 1998 that Williams got another shot at a

title belt A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

, a 1998 bout with Imamu Mayfield for the

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts. The others are the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing C ...

Cruiserweight Title. He won the title by ninth round TKO, however in his first defence he lost to unbeaten

Vassiliy Jirov Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov (; born 4 April 1974), sometimes known as Vasily Zhirov, is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2009, and held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2003. As an amateur he won a gold ...

Post career

On June 23, 2024 Williams was inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record

References

External links