Fighting Uncertainty : Jeremy Williams Has the Talent to Contend for the Heavyweight Title, But Does He Want It?

RESEDA — Some say Jeremy Williams is on his way to becoming world heavyweight champion.

Sometimes, Williams is among them.

Sometimes, he is not.

About the only certainty surrounding Williams, 24, an unquestionably talented fighter and remarkable physical specimen, is that he is still fighting. . . . for now.

Williams, 29-2 with 25 knockouts, will face Jeff Lally in a 12-round main event for the lightly regarded North American Boxing Organization title tonight at the Reseda Country Club.

What Williams’ future holds--as has been the case after his recent fights--is anyone’s guess, including his own.

“Boxing is something I’ll do until I find out what else I’m going to do,” Williams said. “So many fighters get engulfed in being a fighter, but that’s not all that I want to do. I’m more than a boxer. I’m an actor. I’m a father. I’m a good friend. I’m a good Muslim.

“I might retire. I’ve made a lot of money boxing. It keeps my kids in private school. I really don’t care to be just a fighter.”

Yet, within the same conversation, Williams shuffles his stance and talks as if he’s ready to knock out the world.

He trains at least three times a day, six days a week, and carries only about 6% body fat. He has beefed up over the past year from 212 to more than 220 pounds. While his ability to take a punch remains a question mark, his punches appear to pack more power.

“I know I’m one of the best fighters in the world,” Williams said. “I take it a lot more seriously now. Not that I didn’t before, but now, my whole life is training.”

Williams’ ambivalence surfaced last June after a devastating third-round knockout loss to Henry Akinwande for the World Boxing Organization title. Training to face Tony Tucker, Williams agreed to be an 11th-hour substitution for Alexander Zolkin, who suffered a cut in training.

At 6 feet 2, Williams, a former light heavyweight, surrendered 4 1/2 inches and 16 pounds to Akinwande. By most accounts, Williams fought an uncharacteristically careless fight, charging toward Akinwande while throwing looping right hands.

Soon after the fight, Williams, though still a legitimate contender, talked of retiring from the career he began pursuing under the tutelage of his father as a 7-year-old in Long Beach. He rebounded by recording consecutive early round knockouts over Wimpy Halstead, Louis Monaco and Phil Jackson.

“I don’t regret [fighting Akinwande],” Williams said. “It taught me a lot.”

After stopping Jackson in one round in his last fight in February, however, Williams again talked of hanging up his gloves. This week, retirement was still on Williams’ lips.

Does he or doesn’t he want to be a boxer?

“I ask myself that question a lot,” Williams said.

Frustration might account for his uncertainty. Before facing Akinwande, Williams was ranked fourth by the WBO and sixth by the World Boxing Council. He since has dropped from both rankings.

Williams is not signed to a promotional contract and finding opponents has been difficult, according to Don Morandini, his manager the past three years. The result is Williams being idle too long for his liking between fights.

“There could be a little bit of frustration,” said Joe Goossen, Williams’ trainer since 1994. “That goes with the game. Maybe [retirement] lurks in the back of his mind, just like it lurks in the back of every professional’s mind. But really, I see him more committed than I’ve ever seen him. He’s the hardest working retiree I’ve ever seen.”

Those close to the enigmatic boxer say his uncertainty has more to do with inroads he has made as an actor than displeasure with the fight game.

Williams appeared in television commercials as a teen and has dabbled in modeling and bit parts over the past few years. He recently auditioned to portray a young Larry Holmes and says he is close to landing a role in a television sitcom.

The transition from the ring to the stage seems imminent. How soon the curtain will fall on Williams’ prizefighting career is the question. And not even Williams has the answer.

“Could be after this fight,” Williams said. “I could [box] forever or not box and it wouldn’t make a difference. But I’d love to have a belt to cap off a career.”

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Fight Night

Tonight’s card at Reseda Country Club

* Jeremy Williams (29-2, 25 knockouts) vs. Jeff Lally (20-7, 9 KOs), 12 rounds, North American Boxing Organization heavyweight championship

* Luis Perez (2-0, 1 KO) vs. Richard Calvillo (1-9-1, 1 KO), four rounds, junior welterweight

* Bobby Scoggins (pro debut) vs. Paul Jones (3-5-1, 2 KOs), four rounds, cruiserweight

* Timothy Scoggins (pro debut) vs. James Brock (3-0-1, 1 KO), four-round light heavyweight

* Carlos Martinez (2-0) vs. Damon Franklin (4-11, 3 KOs), four rounds, welterweight

* Fidel Quezada (0-2) vs. Luis Gordillo (0-2), four rounds, lightweight

* Alfred Ankamah (16-2, 15 KOs) vs. Jose Alfredo Flores (33-5, 21 KOs), 10 rounds, welterweight

First bell: 7:30 p.m./ Tickets: $25-75

Information: (818) 881-2988 or 881-2568