Paul Williams can prove he's not washed up in super welterweight fight vs. Nobuhiro Ishida

Paul Williams has been one of boxing's best fighters over the last five years, but few outside of the sport's hardcore fan base seem to care. Despite his accomplishments, he's more anonymous than LeBron James in the waning moments of a tight playoff game.

When Williams won a decision he did not deserve over Erislandy Lara in July, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board took the unprecedented act of suspending the judges. Yet, as Williams prepares to fight for the first time since that debacle, few outside his family and closest friends seem to know.

At a time when a simple post on Twitter by Floyd Mayweather Jr. can turn a feel-good sports story from Linsanity to insanity, Williams can't garner attention despite facing a critical bout in his illustrious career.

Williams, 30, has always been not only willing but eager to take on all comers. He's got an action-packed style, throws more punches than any other big man and never shies away from a battle.

He'll meet Nobuhiro Ishida on Saturday in a Showtime-televised super welterweight bout in Corpus Christi, Texas, that has a bit of extra significance.

Not only is Williams coming off a win many believe was a loss, in the fight before that, he was knocked out in the second round by Sergio Martinez.

With that, you would think Williams may feel pressure.

But Williams, who has said nothing of note in the fight's build-up, has a career's worth of evidence that would document that he' still boxing royalty. He's 40-2 with 27 knockouts and is 7-2 against men who have held a world title.

His promoter, Dan Goossen, has argued vehemently that the perception of Williams is unfair. Williams is not on the downside of his career, Goossen said, despite the knockout loss to Martinez and, more significantly, the hotly disputed win over Lara.

For proof, Goossen pointed to World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who was stopped by Antonio Margarito in 2008 and by Manny Pacquiao in 2009.

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Some, Goossen said, were calling for Cotto to retire, but he rallied with three wins and has now landed a significant May 5 bout against Mayweather.

"I remember watching [on HBO] when Cotto fought Yuri Foreman [in 2010], and as he was walking to the ring the announcers were saying, 'He's taken so much punishment, maybe he should retire,' " Goossen said. "I remember turning to my wife and saying, 'The guy has only lost two fights and he's just walking to the ring and they're already saying he should retire.' I couldn't believe it. Sometimes, you have to understand in this business that people are always going to be predicting the end of the world.

"The thing is, when all is said and done, when you're in that kind of a situation, all it takes is a good performance and the talk goes 180 degrees the other way."

Williams isn't outrageous like Mayweather nor beloved by a nation like Pacquiao. All Williams has going for him is his ability to fight at a fast pace for exceptionally long periods.

Years ago, when boxing was one of the country's three biggest sports, that would have been enough. In today's sporting landscape, where even the most prominent boxers have to fight for headlines, it's not close to enough for the low-key Williams.

Williams, though, is intent on making a statement against Ishida, who last year burst onto the scene with a stunning first-round knockout of James Kirkland.

"I'm going to show my fans that I'm not done," Williams said. "They will always try and write you off, but I will show them that I'm not done."

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Williams' trainer, George Peterson, is a father figure to him and very protective. Peterson scoffs at the notion that Williams is nearing the end of the line.

"If you play basketball and you have a bad game, it's no big deal because there is another game the next night and another one in a couple of days after that," Peterson said. "In boxing, [a subpar performance] stands out more because these kids only fight a couple of times a year."

If Williams blows out Ishida, and he's heavily favored to do so, he won't entirely erase the memory of the Martinez and Lara fights, but he'll go a long way toward reprogramming the perception of him.

In that regard, he welcomes the doubts and the criticism.

"I'm excited to be given this opportunity and to be able to prove myself again," Williams said. "I love that, because it's just more motivation, and that come [Saturday], I'm going to put on a hell of a show for my fans and the people who aren't my fans."

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