Expert advice can help earn Danny second world shot

Danny Williams' quest to discover the extra power to knock out Matt Skelton in their Commonwealth heavyweight title rematch in Cardiff tomorrow night led him to the door of one of the greatest punchers in boxing history.
Williams has been taking advice from the American former double world title challenger Earnie Shavers, who developed a fearsome reputation during his enduring career as a top-level contender throughout the 1970s.
Muhammad Ali, who beat Shavers on points in 1977, recalled: 'Earnie hit me so hard he shook my kin-folk back in Africa.' Another opponent, Tex Cobb, said: 'Earnie could punch you in the neck with his right hand and break your ankle.'
So it is no surprise that Brixton fighter Williams relished the opportunity to learn all of Shavers' secrets when the pair met for the first time at a recent autograph signing session in Birmingham.
Shavers has always contended he built his outrageous power growing up as a farmhand in rural Alabama and Williams said: 'Earnie told me to buy a big truck tyre and a sledgehammer and just keep banging away at it.
'He told me that was one of the things he had done to build up his punching power. When I went to Kwik Fit and asked for such a big tyre they got quite a shock. It is so big I can't lift it and had to have it delivered.'
With a likely world title shot awaiting the winner, Williams is intent on finishing the job early this time and leaving nothing to chance, having scraped a split decision win in their foul-filled first meeting in February.
Celebrating his 33rd birthday next week, even the mercurial Williams knows defeat by Skelton is likely to end his chances of getting another opportunity to claim a version of the world heavyweight crown.
Williams added: 'I have never lost the belief that I will win a world title for a moment and for this fight I have got myself into the best shape I have almost ever been in.
'I respect Skelton for his physical strength but I have never seen anyone who fights as dirty as him, not even on videos going back to Jim Corbett nearly one hundred years ago.'
Williams and his trainer Jim McDonnell have implored the British Boxing Board of Control to brace themselves for more underhand tactics by Skelton, but the Bedford man remains unfazed by his own notorious reputation.
The 37-year-old Skelton, who came into the sport late having begun his career on the Japanese K-1 circuit, has always acknowledged that he must rely on simple brute force to compensate for a lack of natural ability.
Skelton believes that brute force ought to have been enough to earn him the verdict in February's action-packed first fight and admitted: 'I have never professed to be a scientist but I train hard in the old fashioned way.
'I was straight back into the gym after the first fight because I believe it was my slower work-rate in the middle rounds that probably cost me the verdict the first time around.
'This time I am going to bring the fight and not ease off. People tell me the first fight was a great fight but it is hard to say when you are involved. I just hope the fans are satisfied again after Saturday night.'
The chances are Skelton and Williams will not disappoint second time around, with only hardcore boxing purists likely to leave the Millennium Stadium tomorrow night without a smile on their faces.
Williams' psychological strength has often been questioned, and adds an extra intriguing factor to all his fights because the same Williams who destroyed Mike Tyson is not always certain to turn up.
But Skelton is more predictable, and a Tyson-beating Williams can capitalise on that, reaping the benefits of his meeting with a punching legend to stop his opponent in the later rounds of another rugged brawl.
Williams weighed in at his heaviest ever – 20st 8lbs – for tomorrow’s contest and will outweigh his opponent by more than two stone.
Skelton tipped the scales at 18st 3lbs, the same as for their first fight in February, but Williams’ weight showed he has put on 1st 4lbs in the five months since that first meeting.
Williams’ previous record weight was the 19st 4lbs he recorded prior to last year’s win over Audley Harrison, but he insisted extra power was the key factor.
He said: “I’ve been training really hard and taking supplements which have enabled me to add more than an inch to my biceps alone.
“I am ready for anything and will have much more power to push Skelton back but it hasn’t affected my speed at all. I feel absolutely tremendous.”
Amir Khan weighed in at 9st 11lbs for his light-welterweight meeting with Scot Colin Bain who was slightly lighter at 9st 91/2 lbs.