The  Saturday HBO BAD offering was more a showcase of newest addition to the very interesting cast of welterweight players - Paul Williams by name, calls himself "The Punisher" - and thus far all goes well for the Georgia peach of a 6-1 southpaw that enjoys delivering the leather.

The big coming out party, in with a seriously over seasoned former champion Sharmba Mitchell, was more about the need of a name scalp on the rap sheet - Williams enters undefeated 30-0 with 22 by knockout, but a peek at the victims made for more a glow than a glitter.

Sharmba had a mini flash of success with a well placed combination in stanza two - bad news is what looked nice on camera, also showed the neat connect had zero impact on the undefeated one - and from that point on it’s all downhill for the little big man.

Now candle three and Paul the punisher on target with a countering sizzling left uppercut followed by a right hook-left hand combination - Mitchell greets the canvas but survives the round.

Then number four with Sharmba trying to battle back but to no avail - first knockdown a left hand - than again courtesy of right uppercut before closing the show with a flurry that saw Mitchell down a third time in the stanza.

With the Williams eye catching power display it’s a given HBO has found itself a new star - and the post-fight ring question-answer game found tall Paul reaching out for the welter elite.

But then, that’s what this one was all about - Mitchell at age 35, arrives with a rap sheet reading 62 prior kept appointments with 57-5, 31 KO’s - fact is however, he is now free falling on the wrong side of the slope, and stepping up to full welter at this point is near suicidal. "Too little big man" reads the updated sobriquet.

Still, Williams got the job done in convincing style, and earns all the goodies expected to come his way - but, it says here, Paulie "contender" should seek a friend - preferably a sweetheart in search of better things than hype - and get the rest of the story.

Rest of the story: starts with them prizes the kid took home after the sparking display -  NABO-USNBC straps sound more like a merge of political organizations and radio call letters - and even them minor league straps don’t come cheap.
Bothering me, is the strong likelihood there’s some implanting a hurry up mindset in a promising, at age 25, kid that is more in need of tutoring than a premature date with the  Margarito, Mayweather, Baldomir elite.
Were Paul prospect my charge, the Mitchell rout fits in perfectly for a decent paycheck with the Cintron, Collazo entities for a better picture of where the kid is at. Missing from the repertoire anything resembling an outside game - the stick, feint and counter part has never yet been on display - question needing answers is if there is one to fall back on when the banzai approach doesn’t get it done.

Promising yes … jury still out.

GEL -

8-20-06