Burgeoning boxer Paul Williams saw his career cut short after a motorcycle crash this past weekend left him paralyzed from the waist down. Williams was thrown from his bike on the morning of May 27 in Atlanta, Ga. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Williams, 30, was on his way home from his brother’s bachelor party when he tried to elude an oncoming car. The maneuver launched Williams nearly 60 feet in the air before he landed on his neck and back, the impact thus snapping his spine.
“He was doing about 75 mph on the motorcycle, Williams’ manager and father George Peterson told the Daily News. “When he came down, he came down on his back and when he came down on his back, of course he severed his spinal cord. He’s paralyzed from the waist down. In terms of him walking again… that will never happen.”
Williams had surgery the following morning before doctors issued the final diagnosis that the former welterweight champion would never walk or box again. Williams’ boxing record stands at 41-2 and his upcoming September fight with Canelo Alvarez has been cancelled. Despite his current state, Williams believes he has a chance to fight again. Although his doctors’ final words have shaken up the boxing world, Peterson isn’t ready to throw in the towel.
“I want to think along with him because I’ve seen him do things in his boxing career that shouldn’t have happened,” Peterson told the Associated Press. “We want his fans to know he’s going to be all right and he’ll be back. He said if he wasn’t going to be boxing, he’s going to be a standup comedian.”