Williams unleashes the animal in himself

The lack of company was by choice. Three months after he was swamped by supporters in a Louisville boxing ring where he had destroyed what was left of the legend of Mike Tyson, the Brixton- born heavyweight insisted: "This is how I like it.

"Team Williams is just me and Jimmy. I'm not into the entourage business. That's for people with low esteem, people who need someone to tell them, 'You look beautiful, you're doing so good'.

"All I need is Jimmy telling me when I do things right and when I do things wrong. We spoke about this the other day. I told Jimmy I may be a bit famous now but I'm coming to the gym on my own and I'm going home on my own."

So much for fame, but what about the fortune that was supposed to set Williams up for life in the wake of his shock Tyson triumph?

The gym echoed to his laughter. "Me? Rich? No way!"

Two years ago, at York Hall in Bethnal Green, Williams's successful defence of the British heavyweight championship against rival Londoner Keith Long barely warranted a headline.

He said: "I'm telling you, for the Tyson fight I got less than when I fought Long. I could not believe how much I got for fighting Tyson. When I showed Jimmy the cheque he couldn't believe it either."

His purse for taking on the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world was $250,000.

"The dollar is very weak so that was about £136,000," said Williams. "And there were so many bills.

"I had to pay for my hotel and Jimmy's hotel. Then I had to fly in this sparring partner, pay for his food, his hotel and give him more than $1,000 a week to train with me.

"When you take away all the expenses I got well under 100 grand for that fight. I'm just so glad I won. If I had lost and then seen the size of the pay cheque, it would have killed me."

This is the reality of being a contender, a reality that Williams conceded he was keen to embrace.

He said: "I took the Tyson fight as a gamble. I knew the money was rubbish. But it has paid off because I'm getting good money for fighting Klitschko."

It is believed that 31-year-old Williams will get close to £500,000 for taking on the giant Ukrainian. Should he win, he'll be able to count on seven-figure purses as the WBC world champion.

Money like that can change a man. "But not me," said Williams, a committed follower of Islam who revealed how he makes a special effort to remain as "humble" now as he was before that shock fourthround knockout of Iron Mike.

He said: "When I used to walk down the road and see a mate calling to me from the other side I'd wave and move on. But now I actually cross the road and shake his hand because I don't want people to think I'm above them just because of the Tyson thing.

"I'm not cocky. When people come up and hug me or want their pictures taken with me I'm still a bit shocked. I find myself thinking, 'Why do you want my autograph?'

"I recently went to Manchester and a guy wanted me to sign a lot of autographs. He paid me for it and I'm thinking, 'Why am I getting paid just for signing my name?'"

If it is beginning to sound like Williams is too good to be true, consider the testimony of Brian Davies of Donnington Ex-Servicemen's Club in Telford who last month invited the fighter to meet with the club's young amateur boxers.

"It was unbelievable," said Davies. "Danny paid all his own costs to come here. We didn't pay a penny. He made presentations to our boxers and did every request he was asked. He signed autographs, posed for pictures, nothing was too much. He's such a lovely man."

But that was always his trouble.

Williams was simply too nice to inflict pain on another man, or so it seemed as he ran up an indifferent record of wins and defeats.

He admitted: "It used to frustrate Jimmy and others close to me that the animal in me wasn't coming out. But that animal is emerging now that I'm taking on top fighters.

"When I feel threatened, that's when the real fighter comes out in me. I felt threatened by Tyson. I feel threatened by Klitschko. But I never felt threatened by Keith Long and those other guys."

Victory over Klitschko will bring material changes to Williams's life. He'll be able to afford to move from his end-of-terrace house in Peckham and he can trade in that coupé for something special in the showroom.

But there are other changes which will mean more to him. He vowed: "I will be a better Danny Williams than I was before.

"I want to be able to show inner-city kids that I've come through what they're going through with a clean slate and no criminal record.

"I went to a school in Peckham the other day and received one of the nicest gifts that meant so much to me. They gave me a folder with poems written by the kids and that was so touching.

"In return I hope I inspired them. I always stress the point that no matter how talented you are you've still got to work hard. You may get knocked down, like I've been knocked down, but then you get up, brush yourself off and get on with your life."

Next week Williams will leave his partner Zoe and their two daughters and move to a training camp in Las Vegas. He said: "For the Tyson fight I only had five weeks to prepare. For this one we've had 10 weeks.

"I've been getting myself in tremendous shape and I really do believe I'll win. I hear Klitschko talking and I don't think he has been 100 per cent respectful of me.

"He's seen what happened in those other fights when I didn't perform and he's taking me lightly. Which is what Tyson did and look what happened to him."

With that Williams climbed back into his car with only a championship dream for company. But that's just the way he likes it.