Williams Barely Needs a 10-Count

Trainer Joe Goossen wished his fighter, heavyweight Jeremy Williams, well in Tuesday’s main event at the Long Beach Pyramid, picked up his stool and bounced down the four steps to the floor.

By the time Goossen turned around to watch the fight, he was too late. It was over.

Williams knocked out Arthur Weathers in 10 seconds of the first round. That’s 10 seconds from start to finish, from the opening bell to the signal by referee Marty Denkin that the fight was over.

The bout was the shortest in California history, according to Dean Lohuis of the State Athletic Commission. The old mark was 13 seconds.

Fighting in front of 3,100, Williams (25-1, 22 knockouts) and Weathers (22-9-1, 18 knockouts) met in the center of the ring.

Weathers threw a jab that Williams slipped. Williams, a Long Beach native, then threw a body shot and followed up with a solid right uppercut. Weathers went down and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Elapsed time: six seconds.

Denkin counted to four and then signaled it was over. “As he went down, his eyes went up in his head,” Denkin said. “I gave him one more second to get his eyes in focus. Why continue counting when you can give the doctor five more seconds to work on him?”

After his head cleared, Weathers said, “I didn’t see the punch coming. I worked on some things that didn’t work. Now I’ll go back in the gym and work on some other things.”

The match following Williams’ was longer. But not much. Heavyweight Eric “Butterbean” Esch floored his opponent, Jimmy Baker, in 18 seconds.

Esch, who had also scored a one-round knockout five days earlier at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, improved to 17-1 with 13 knockouts. Baker, who put up little if any opposition, fell to 1-6.

Another bout ended in less than a round. Heavyweights Alonzo Highsmith, the former NFL running back, and Jim Mullen butted heads, resulting in a technical draw.