LAS VEGAS – Austin “Ammo” Williams remained undefeated on Saturday, but he had a lot more trouble with Kieron Conway than he predicted.
Williams wrote Conway off during a news conference on Thursday, when he promised a demolition similar to his first-round knockout or the previously undefeated Chordale Booker in their previous fight. However, Conway was much tougher than Williams believed and took the hard-hitting middleweight prospect the 10-round distance for the first time in his three-year career.
Milwaukee’s Williams won by unanimous decision in the first fight of the pay-per-view portion of the Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin undercard at T-Mobile Arena. Judges Chris Migliore (97-92), David Sutherland (97-92) and Steve Weisfeld (96-93) scored their fight for Williams, who took charge during the later rounds against a fatigued and bloodied Conway.
Williams improved to 12-0 (8 KOs). England’s Conway, who has never been knocked out, fell to 18-3-1 (4 KOs).
Conway spent most of the tenth round trying to survive after Williams knocked him down in the ninth round. By then, Williams was in control of a fight that was very competitive in the early rounds.
A right uppercut from Williams sent Conway to the canvas with just over 1:20 left in the ninth round. Conway was bleeding from the mouth, but he beat referee Robert Hoyle’s count and made it to the end of the ninth round.
Hoyle called for a brief break in the action with 1:43 left in the eighth round, so Conway’s handlers could re-tape his glove. Williams was the aggressor throughout the eighth round, but Conway moved and hung on long enough to avoid making many clean shots in those three minutes.
A left hand from Williams caused Conway to hold him approximately 45 seconds into the seventh round. Another left hand from Williams caught Conway’s attention with about 1:20 left in the seventh round.
A right hand from Conway backed up Williams with just over a minute left in the sixth round. Williams again struggled in the sixth round to find Conway with a left hand.
Williams caught Conway with a straight left just a minute into the fifth round. Another left hand from Williams knocked Conway off balance with about 45 seconds left in the fifth round.
Conway caught Williams with a short right hand to the inside with about 30 seconds left in the fourth round. Williams had a hard time landing clean shots on Conway during that round.
A right hand from Conway backed up Williams with just under 1:20 left in the third round. Williams landed a left hand as he pushed Conway into a corner late in the third round, but Conway countered with a right hand.
After Williams and Conway spent most of the first round feeling it out, the action picked up again in the second round.
Conway connected with a straight right hand just after the middle of the second round. Williams snuck in with a left hand just before the end of the second round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
