Boxing champ Paul Williams paralyzed in motorcycle accident, manager says

Boxer Paul Williams, known as “The Punisher,” has been left paralyzed from the waist down after a traffic accident Sunday in suburban Atlanta, according to news reports.

Williams’ manager, George Peterson, told CNN affiliate WRDW in Augusta, Georgia, that the boxer is facing surgery Wednesday to stabilize his spinal column. That surgery will entail putting a wall around his upper spine, according to the report.

Williams is from Aiken, South Carolina, east of Augusta.

He was in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta to attend his brother’s wedding on Monday, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

As he rode his motorcycle home from a bachelor party early Sunday, he swerved to a avoid a car and was thrown from the bike more than 60 feet in the air, Peterson told the Daily News.

“He was doing about 75 mph on the motorcycle. 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,” the Daily News quoted Peterson as saying.

Williams has a career record of 41-2-0, with 27 knockouts, according to the WRDW report. He has held three title belts, twice being the WBO welterweight champ and once as the WBO light middleweight champ.

He was scheduled to fight Saul Alvarez for the WBC light middleweight title in September, according to the media reports.

Peterson told the Daily News that despite his condition Williams was upbeat.

“It’s the same old Paul,” the Daily News quoted Peterson as saying. “As I was walking out of the door to talk to you, he said, ‘Believe me, if I don’t ever box again, I’m going to do some stand-up comedy.’ He’s not suffering.”