A torn ligament in the left knee of ‘Iron Mike’ had a big say on the bout, which saw the former champion return to the ring after a 15-month absence:
Mike Tyson started strongly against the Briton, who boasted a 31-3 pre-fight record. But after Williams survived a brutal first round, the ‘Brixton Bomber’ took control in the fourth, with a flurry of punches eventually forcing the American to the canvas where he was unable to make the count.
It would prove the penultimate professional fight of the one-time WBA, WBC, IBF belt holder, who a year later quit at the start of the seventh round against journeyman Kevin McBride to bring his distinguished career to an end.
Yet for Williams his shock win over Tyson earned him an overdue world title shot against Vitali Klitschko in Nevada on December 11, 2004.
The Ukrainian would stop the Londoner in the eighth round to prevent him winning the WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles, with his career never able to reach those heights again.
Williams did bounce back to win the vacant Commonwealth belt against Audley Harrison and would add the British crown to his credentials, but Derek Chisora wrestled the latter off him with victory at the Boleyn Ground in 2010.
The ‘Brixton Bomber’ would suffer 15 defeats out of 17 during the next few years, now fighting licensed by the Baltic League of Professional Boxing due to the British Boxing Board of Control having concerns over his decline in form.
Following a string of supposed retirements, Williams was last active in September where he lost for the 29th time in his 84-fight career to Sergei Kharitonov.
A regular at obscure venues in European countries in recent years, with his last licensed home bout against Chisora in 2010, the 48-year-old is said to have quit for good this time but given his numerous U-turns there remains a lingering doubt the British boxer will re-emerge again.