No Bumps, No Bruises, No Sweat For McNeeley

Williamson Stays On His Stool After Second Round

By LARRY BEAN

The wedding pictures will be fine.

Friday night's second-round TKO of J.B. Williamson was just what the photographer ordered for Peter McNeeley. The Hurricane was going to be an usher in the wedding of his oldest brother, Tom, the next day, and he didn't want a black eye to match his black tux.

"I wanted to get it over with quick. I didn't want to get marked up," said McNeeley. Then, flashing a smile for the half dozen reporters gathered in the make-shift dressing room in the basement of Foxboro Park, he added, "I'm still pretty."

Friday's outcome also had to leave Don King grinning. He had just added McNeeley to his fold for the next four years, and McNeeley did nothing to make King's investment look imprudent.

"Because of the deal with Don King, there was a lot of talk around town and a lot of extra publicity, so I felt a little bit of pressure," said McNeeley.

Williamson, who was on the ropes — literally — for most of the two rounds, landed an uppercut at the end of the first round, but that's the extent of the threat the ex-light-heavyweight champion ever posed for McNeeley.

"The uppercut was a punch he hadn't thrown early in the round, so when he popped it I wasn't expecting it," said McNeeley, "but I adjusted.

"He moved a lot more then when I saw him in Arkansas [in April]," said McNeeley. "He was trying to sucker me with shots over the head and uppercuts and head butts. But I just concentrated on the body attack, and I guess it wore him down and he packed it in."

At the end of the second round, Williamson, who held the WBC light heavyweight title for 1985 and 1986, plunked down on his stool and never got up.

In the words of the ring announcer, addressing the capacity crowd, "Williamson was unable to answer the bell for the third round due to injuries sustained from the punches of Peter McNeeley."

The knockout was No. 22 for McNeeley and it improved his record to 28-1. The 37-year-old Williamson, who was 22-1 when he held the WBC title, saw his record fall to 26-12.

The fight was the first in nearly two months for McNeeley, who went 3-0 in April but took off the month of May.

"I'm use to fighting once a month," said McNeeley, who is scheduled to headline a card at the Plymouth Memorial Auditorium on July 22. "I was really itching to fight."

Related articles:
McNeeley In A Hurry, Whips Williamson   [The Boston Globe]
McNeeley TKOs Foe   [The Brockton Enterprise]
McNeeley Ready For Next Level   [The Boston Patriot-Ledger]
Like Father, Like Son   [The Daily Transcript]