Busy Under-Card Taking Shape For Holyfield-Williams: Barrett, Kauffman, Johnson, Boswell, Welliver In Action

By James Slater: The upcoming January 22nd clash between faded legend Evander Holyfield and durable journeyman Sherman “Tank” Williams, which will go out on a Pay-Per-View, looks like having a stacked under-card as support. This may be just as well, because in truth the main event has failed to set pulses racing.

But, with a number of other heavyweights, and some decent lower-weight fighters set to be in action also, fans may feel the urge to buy the card. According to Boxrec, supporting the Holyfield-Williams ten-rounder will be fellow heavyweights: Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett (against Charles Davis), Travis Kauffman (with the once-beaten hope taking on the towering Julius Long), Chauncy Welliver (the fan-favourite facing Hector Ferreyro) and Cedric Boswell (against an as yet unannounced foe).

“King Pin” Kevin Johnson, according to his own recent press release, is also expected to fight a TBA on the bill. Also set to see action, according to Boxrec, are Lanardo Tyner and a couple of unbeaten up-and-comers/prospects. There will at least be plenty of bouts to tune in for two weeks today, then.

No, none of the heavyweight bouts planned is in any way big news, but there could be some fun fights taking place in West Virginia. The Kauffman-Long fight could go one of two ways in my opinion. Either 25-year-old “GW Hope” Kauffman, 21-1(16) wipes the 7’1” journeyman out in quick fashion (as guys such as Sam Peter, Audley Harrison and Alexander Ustinov did), or Long will be allowed to get warmed up and he will give Kauffman a hard night’s work.

Long, 15-14(13) has proven durable in recent outings; taking Ray Austin, Kelvin Price and Maurice Harris the distance. The 33-year-old can throw a guy’s timing off due to his incredible height and reach, and Kauffman may have to work to get his 22nd win.

It’s always fun watching Welliver fight, and his bout with “Hurricane” Ferreyro, 21-9-2(12) could be entertaining. “The Fat Dorky White Guy,” as Welliver, 45-5-5(15) was once known, is 10-0 since his sole stoppage loss, to Odlanier Solis in October of 2008, and his weight has come down in each successive fight. Possibly even on the verge of a big fight (Welliver even had his name mentioned as a possible Klitschko foe recently), the hard-working 27-year-old will look to put on a show on the card.

It’s almost always fun to watch “Two Gunz” Barrett in action, too. Coming off that unexpectedly good showing against David Tua, the 39-year-old New Yorker will look to keep busy as his talked-of return with Tua gets finalized. Davis, 19-21-2(4) doesn’t figure to trouble Barrett, and he was stopped by Johnson in the 4th-round in his last outing.

Will the Jan. 22nd card prove to be value for money? Maybe, maybe not. But enough fans will be curious enough to tune in to the show to make it a success.

Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs) will defend his World Boxing Federation heavyweight title against battled-tested veteran Sherman “Tank” Williams (34-11-2, 19 KOs) in the 12-round main

event. Redemption In American, presented by ARK Promotions in association with The Greenbrier, will be distributed in North American by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9

PM/ET 6 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay per view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network in the United States, as well as Viewer’s Choice and Shaw PPV in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

Pulse 2006, 1708 Gallery, Richmond Virgina, May 5, 2006

Chris Ashley, Brad Hampton, Steve Karlick, Lisa Rundstrom, Anna Von Mertens, Rachel Hayes, Curated by Peter Baldes and Kristin Beal