Q&A: Williams frustrated but still hungry - Next

RingTV.com: Anything different than what we'll see since your last fight with Lara?

Paul Williams: I feel much more hungrier now. I'm getting ready to go out there and put on a good performance and to fight smart. People can always get what they expect out of me, and that is that I'm going to put on a good show.

I'm going to go for it. So I'm going to fight. But I've got my head on straight where I'm more focused on different strategies that I'm going to come in with. Then again, when you get in there, as soon as those punches are thrown, I already know that in the back of my mind, I can go for however long this guy wants to go.

I can bring out the dog in anybody once I get in there and square off. That's just part of my game. When the fight gets tough, I know that I can get in there and go hard from the first round all the way until the 12th round. I can go hard, blow-for-blow, minute-by-minute, round-by-round.

So I know that I know that I can do that, but I'm going to work on some technique. It all depends on what I feel once I get in there how it's going to go. That's something that you're going to have to wait until February 18 to see.

RingTV.com: What's so different now than, say, the hunger you displayed in the Quintana rematch?

PW: With the Quintana fight, the first time, I probably wasn't as hungry because I didn't know much about him. When he beat me, I had a reason to come back stronger. I had to get my belt back. With Martinez, you know, the first fight was back and forth.

So I was hungry the second fight. Pavlik, you know, we didn't know that much about him except that he was a good fighter. I wanted to get in there with him and put on a good show. But that fight never happened. That fight fell through and didn't happen.

So, you know, with this fight, you know, I'm in the mind frame now that I want to get back in there and get right back on top of the ladder. I want to get my titles back. I can't wait. I'm going to win, and I'm definitely aiming to put on an impressive performance.

But my main thing is to get the "W." So, I'm going to strive to get the "W" the best way that I know how, and that's to throw a lot of punches and to make this thing a knock-down, drag-out fight.

RingTV.com: What weight class would you like to fight at next?

PW: Weight class? I could go at 154 or 160, it doesn't really matter to me. The opponents don't really matter to me. I would at least want them to be worthy.

You know what I'm saying? I would want them to at least be a champion, you know? I would want them to be someone who is in the top two of the weight class.

RingTV.com: Are you in any way disappointed that you were not called out by Mayweather or among those considered as an opponent by Pacquiao?

PW: Oh no. I'm never disappointed, because I remember that even when I beat Antonio Margarito that Margarito was the most feared man out there. I remember that nobody wanted to fight me after I beat him.

Even when I was the champion, nobody was calling me out back then. I don't expect for anybody to call me out. I'm to the point right now where I'm done with calling guys out.

You get the guys that talk the trash and all of that, but they won't step up to the plate. But when I say that I want to fight you, I want to fight you, and I'm going to step up to the plate and I'm going to go after you.

So I'm not disappointed that Floyd called the other guys out or whoever called whoever out. I'm going to always be looked over and stuff.

RingTV.com: Do you feel that you belong in the mix with Saul Alvarez, Tim Bradley, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez and Lamont Peterson?

PW: Of course I feel like I should be in there with them. I don't see why not. I'm on their level. In my eyes, I'm more on the level of a Floyd Mayweather and a Manny Pacquiao than those other guys because of a lot of reasons. I mean, look what I've been doing.

My whole career, I've been fighting the guys that nobody else has wanted to fight. I'm putting up the most exciting fights, win or lose. I'm a throwback fighter. You've got to get in there with me and you're not going to be in for an easy night.

You're going to have to work hard for it. You're going to have to come and get it against me, and a lot of guys, they know that and they don't want that. So the bottom line is, when you look at boxing for what it is and what all they bring to the table, who they fight, and who I've fought, then you see what level I'm on.

RingTV.com: How would you like to close out your career?

PW: If I had the game plan that I could choose, and I was allowed to pick about three guys that I would want to fight, of course, I would love to do a Pacquiao fight. I consider him the top guy out there.

Anybody who has got those belts. That would be next. Anybody who has got those belts in those top weight classes. I definitely want to get another one with Martinez.

Of course, I just want to go out there and put on a good show. I'm what? 40-2? I've already done more than a lot of those other fighters have done in their whole careers.

So now, I want to get a couple of more of them belts and go down in history. I'm basically looking at getting those big, legacy types of fights so I can go down in history.

Photos by Craig Bennett, Goossen-Tutor Promotions

Photos by Fightwireimages.com

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com