BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : He Leaves New York--and Tyson--Behind

It was strange to watch, sometimes, and stranger still for the man actually doing the Mike Tyson imitation.

Jeremy Williams, four inches taller than Tyson, would crouch and surge toward his opponents in the ring, moving his head from side to side as he launched his body forward.

In his first 10 professional fights, he was always attacking, firing quick, punishing hooks from close range, as did Tyson in his prime. He also got hit with some heavy shots from the opponents who could figure out the style, as Buster Douglas did with Tyson.

It was intimidating at times, but was it the right way for Jeremy Williams to fight?

What else would you expect from a young heavyweight being trained in Tyson’s old Catskills, N.Y., camp by Tyson’s former trainer, Kevin Rooney?

A few months ago, after struggling in a 10-round decision over journeyman Frankie Swindell, Williams decided that he had had enough of the Tyson tutorial, enough of the Catskills, enough of Rooney and especially enough of the suggestions that he was nothing but a Tyson knock-off.

As he readied for tonight’s fight against veteran Garing Lane on USA, Williams (13-0, 10 knockouts) had heard enough about Tyson.

“Do I know him? Yes. Do I pattern myself after him? No,” Williams said. “I’m not the next Mike. I want to be my own man. I have my own style of fighting, my own way of doing things.

“I like to just draw the line between myself and Mike. People ask me if I want to be the next Mike Tyson. Forget that. I’m me.”

In August, Williams, 21, decided to leave New York and return home to Long Beach and train with the man who had led him through his impressive amateur career--his father, Charles.

Charles Williams says that his son wasn’t comfortable in Upstate New York, and that it was natural that he would want to return home.

Also, Charles Williams says he couldn’t stand by and allow his son be turned into a Tyson imitator who did nothing but crouch and charge. The legendary Cus D’Amato was Tyson’s first trainer and mentor, and when he died, Rooney, also trained by D’Amato, took over Tyson’s training.

“I turned him over to Kevin (for his professional career), and I thought that perhaps Kevin would give Jeremy just a little slack, let him do things his own way and maybe teach him a few things, too,” Charles Williams said.

“But I found out that Kevin didn’t know but one thing himself, and that’s to do what he was taught. So he just made some hard fights for Jeremy.

“I knew that Jeremy has the type of personality that wouldn’t continually take that from Kevin. I won’t hold him back and I won’t make him pursue something that’s not good for him.”

Rooney was given the option of co-training with Charles Williams, but, according to Charles, turned that down. Williams’ promoter, Bill Cayton, who was also Tyson’s promoter and who has long had a relationship with Rooney, said he realized there was no way Rooney could continue training Williams as long as he was in Long Beach.

“Jeremy was quite intent about coming back to California,” Cayton said. “Kevin understood the difficulties of working with Jeremy on the West Coast.

“I feel a big sense of obligation to Kevin for what he did for Jeremy. He instilled a sense of professionalism. . . . Jeremy turned pro very, very successfully.”

Says Jeremy Williams: “I just wanted to be a more well-rounded fighter. What Kevin taught me, I’ll never forget, and I thank him for that. But I’m not 5-10, I’m 6-2. I’m not a very explosive puncher, although I can punch.

“I might not do it like some other guy, but what I do, I do good.”

In his most recent fight, Williams knocked out Nathaniel Fitch, who had never been knocked down previously in his professional career, in the seventh round. Assuming he defeats Lane at Detroit, Williams is scheduled to fight Jan. 14, possibly against Alex Garcia. Cayton thinks those two victories will get Williams into the top 10, and quickly into title contention.

Beyond that, with his training situation settled, Williams has big plans for the rest of the year.

“I feel that ’94 is going to be my year,” Williams said. “I believe in my heart and mind, a year from now I should be fighting for or have the title of heavyweight champion of the world.”

Williams says that the recent string of heavyweight upsets has opened the door for young contenders.

“The division, it’s kind of plain,” Williams said. “That lull between the next great one and the last great one, who was Mike. (Riddick) Bowe, he was good, but he didn’t impress or scare anybody.

“It’s an opportune time for myself to jump in there.”

Boxing Notes

Michael Carbajal, in town last week to promote his Feb. 19 rematch with Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez at the Forum, showed off his recently regrown head of hair--but the gash high on his head he received in his last fight while sporting a Mohawk is still visible. Carbajal, the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation 108-pound champion, suffered the three-inch cut against Domingo Sosa. Carbajal and his older brother, Danny, said they were eager to fight Gonzalez on what the Carbajals consider Gonzalez’s home territory. Gonzalez, who is from Mexico, has fought many times at the Forum. Carbajal has rarely ventured away from his hometown of Phoenix and has never fought in L.A. The first fight was in Las Vegas. “I know there’s great support for Chiquita (in L.A.),” Michael Carbajal said. “I like it. I haven’t fought in someone else’s home yard since the amateurs.”

Besides the Freddie Pendleton-Rafael Ruelas WBC lightweight title fight, the Feb. 19 undercard is scheduled to include Jorge Paez against an opponent to be decided and potential Carbajal opponent Scotty Olson, also against an opponent to be decided. . . . IBF super-middleweight champion James Toney is officially on the Oscar De La Hoya-Jimmy Bredahl card that will reopen the Olympic Auditorium on March 5. Toney is scheduled to fight Tim Littles. . . . Pernell Whitaker, deciding to take more time off, has given up the Feb. 5 date HBO was holding for his next fight. Instead, it appears that Riddick Bowe, originally scheduled to fight Jan. 14, will move his first fight since losing the title to Feb. 5, in Las Vegas, possibly against Phil Jackson, the WBC’s No. 6 contender.