Marcus Browne Mauls Williams Jr. In Six

Undefeated Marcus Browne returns after lengthy layoff and dominates Thomas Williams Jr. in Cincinnati, Ohio as the Broner-Granados opener.

Upon first glance at Showtime Boxing’s Adrien Broner-Adrian Granados undercard, the match up between Thomas Williams Jr. (20-3, 14 KOs) and Marcus Browne (19-0, 14 KOs) – the IBF’s 13th ranked light heavyweight in January – almost guaranteed to deliver the card’s biggest fireworks. Williams needed to overcome his fourth round knockout loss to WBC world champion Adonis Stevenson in July. Browne’s potential came into question, to some degree, after earning a split decision victory over Radivoje Kalajdzic in an eight round bout back in April 2016 at Barclays Center. In round six of that fight, Kalajdzic dropped the 2012 Olympian for the first time in his professional career.

Anticipation for a knockout to end the fight increased at the final presser after Williams and Browne shared the most heated exchange of all the event’s  fighters. Browne fully expected to get back on track, prior to the decision against Kalajdzic the 26-year old southpaw stopped six of his seven previous opponents. He told the presser’s audience on fight night he planned to act as a “dog whisperer” – a clever play on Williams’ “Top Dog” nickname. Williams spent a short time at the podium, he explained that Browne disrespected him in the run up to the fight, and for that he promised to deliver an “a__ whipping”.

All the fighters needed was the bell for round one.

Once the fight started the two southpaws circled the ring trading right jabs. Williams lunged forward to land a clean right hand on Browne before missing with several heavier shots as he looked to land something big early. Browne stayed busier in the first round, and landed more shots. Williams only managed to connect with a pair of jabs over the first three minutes according to PunchStat Report.

Browne picked up the pace significantly in round two, connecting with 10 of his 24 power punches. Williams connected with a counter left hand early in the round, but as Browne began finding him often with sharper straighter shots, Williams moved inside where the action grew more physical with clinching and holding. Neither man intended on giving up his ground.

The physical tactics continued until Browne connected with a jab that sent Williams to his knees where both gloves touched the canvas. Perhaps the result of the punch stunned the ref into a second of hesitation, and before he could move in to start his count Browne stepped in to land a left hand to rear right side of Williams’ head. The Fort Washington, Maryland native went flat on the mat and signaled the blow to the back of the head. Confusion ensued.

Referee Ken Miliner proceeded with his count but eventually rewarded Williams with five minutes to recover. Miliner also deducted a point from Browne for the foul. Replays of the sequence played on the screen hoisted above the ring, and the crowd gradually sided with Browne who believed the knock down was legitimate. Browne encouraged the crowd to pick up its energy by waving his gloves upwards repeatedly as Williams gave the nod to Miliner that he was ready to resume the fight. Browne moved in for the finish but Williams stayed tucked in his guard to weather the storm, and extend the fight into round three.

Surprisingly, the tension of fight returned to normal in round three but Williams increasingly found it difficult to land shots, missing badly with several wilder looking attempts. Williams walked to Browne and squared up looking to get him into the ropes in hopes of banging away to the body, but Browne responded with a short solid right hook off the ropes that showed Williams was in for it at either range.

In round four Browne continued to score well with his right hand. Again he slipped off the ropes, amid some good pressure, to land a short left hook before sending Williams to the canvas with a right hook. Williams beat the count, and Browne stalked him looking for the finish after the action resumed. Williams fought back until he was steady, and eventually got Browne into the ropes to rip some shots at Browne’s body for the final 20 seconds before ending the round with a clean left hand.

Browne followed up landing 54% of his power punches in round four by connecting with 57% in round five. Williams’ interaction with the referee increased as he indicated various Browne fouls, and his focus moved off of attacking Browne until the two fighters exchanged thudding left hooks in the corner. Browne soon followed his up with a crushing one-two combination, and as total control of the fight moved to his favor Williams still looked to compete.

As the fight moved into round six Browne’s advantage in power punches doubled, with the Staten Island native leading 52-24 in non-jabs. At the :42 mark Browne dropped Williams with a snapping right hook-straight left combination. As Miliner counted Williams looked to his corner to indicate he was likely through.

After the fight Browne explained the knock down sequence from his perspective saying, “It didn’t look like he went down, so I made sure he went down. He was trying to stand up so I pushed him down a little bit more. I didn’t see his glove on the floor. I won’t do that to you, Adonis Stevenson, just give me my chance.”

 Regarding his performance, he hinted at the impact of being inactive since April, “We were not 100 percent but we were 85 percent and we’ll gain the rest by the next performance. I want Adonis Stevenson and I want that strap.”

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