ATLANTA – Former welterweight champion Paul Williams' manager said the boxer is in surgery on Friday night to stabilize his spine after he was paralyzed in a motorcycle crash on Sunday.
Williams' manager, George Peterson, told The Associated Press the surgery is expected to be completed about 9:30 p.m. in an Atlanta hospital.
Williams, 30, severed his spinal cord when he was thrown from his motorcycle Sunday morning in Marietta, Ga. Police said he was driving too fast for conditions.
Peterson said the former welterweight champion has no movement from the waist down.
Williams, known as "The Punisher," is from Aiken, S.C. He had been scheduled to fight Sept. 15 in Las Vegas against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Williams won his first major welterweight title in July 2007 by beating Antonio Margarito.
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