Williams (11-2 with 10 knockouts) boxed well, landing effective counters and hard single shots that occasionally thrilled the crowd, but Vanda prevailed by virtue of his unbreakable chin, superior workrate, and some showmanship that got the sellout crowd on his side.

Vanda started strong – pressing the action, pursuing Williams around the ring, and occasionally taunting the larger, more powerful Williams.  Williams looked best in the late rounds, especially in eight and ten, surprisingly hanging in with the smaller but busier man and landing bombs that would have flattened a lesser opponent.

Vanda, a 13-year veteran with a 42-9 record (22 wins by knockout), was supposed to be a step-up opponent for Williams, who was coming off a thrilling 7^th-round knockout win against former contender Antwun Echols.  Instead, Vanda won his third straight bout – the first time Vanda has won three straight since 2005-06.

The good news is that Williams could have won – would have scored more – if he had just let his hands go.  It looked like Vanda’s experience and bravado allowed him to get inside Williams’ head.  Williams dished out plenty of punishment, but Vanda was just the wrong opponent – a tough-as-nails veteran who is always fit and loves to trade isn’t the best match for an inexperienced slugger.  But the fight was an exciting back-and-forth affair, and Williams gave boxing fans the kind of fight they love, if not the result that his own fans had hoped for.

In other action on tonight’s card:

• Wilton “The Pretty Warrior” Hilario of the Dominican Republic improved to 12-0 with 9 knockouts by thoroughly dominating the usually slick and elusive Leon Bobo of St Louis, MO.  Bobo’s record fell to 18-4.  The result was a unanimous decision in Hilario’s favor.
• Undefeated prospect Ceresso Fort of St Paul and 6-4-1 Lamar Harris of Saint Louis engaged in a tremendously entertaining brawl, with Fort (now 8-0 with 7 knockouts) winning by unanimous decision.  Fort was credited with a knockdown in the first and generally controlled the first half of the bout, but Harris came on in the last three rounds.
• Former top-ranked amateur Javontae Starks of Minneapolis made his professional debut, winning by second-round TKO over Dan Copp.  Starks felt Copp out for a round, then tore into him in the second.  Starks hit Copp with a body shot that put Copp (now 1-2) down on his knees, moaning in agony.
• Tim Taggart (3-2-1) and Sam Morales (3-3-1 battled to an entertaining draw in a four-rounder.  Morales seemed to get the better of Taggart, but the judges made it a majority draw.
• Zach Schumach got his first pro win, improving to 1-2, against Don Tierney (now 1-1).  Tierney, interestingly, had former IBO world junior welterweight titleholder Mike Evgen in his corner – unfortunately for Tierney, Evgen had to stay in the corner.

Two major league punchers put on an electrifying show tonight, with the loser showing commendable class in the aftermath.

Phil Williams, a Queens-born barber in north Minneapolis, improved his record to 11-1 with 10 knockouts by TKOing tough veteran Antwun Echols (now 31-11 with 27 wins by knockout) in a thrilling super middleweight bout tonight.  Both men fought with passion and abandon, each throwing all his best shots at his opponent.

Williams had the best of the early going, repeatedly landing power shots from both hands.  But Echols, who has fallen short in world title matches with Bernard Hopkins and Roman Karmazin, among others, showed tremendous grit in sticking it out and hurting Williams with some breathtaking right hands in the third and fourth rounds.

Williams, whose only career loss came last summer to 19-0 prospect Marcus Oliveria, showed this time that he has the toughness and resilience to endure such shots.  In the sixth and seventh tonight Williams threw everything he had at Echols, and though Echols was game, his corner showed admirable discretion in throwing in the towel in the seventh when Williams had rocked Echols twice with thunderous combinations and was chasing his prey into a neutral corner to finish him off.

Given an opportunity to speak after the bout had ended, Echols advised the Minnesota crowd, “I was in with Bernard Hopkins and he couldn’t do nothing with me.  This man is for real. When it comes time for him to make a step up, he’s going to be the man!”

In other bouts on tonight’s card:

• Boxing Digest prospect of the month for April 2009 Caleb “Golden” Truax (12-0 with 8 kayos) won a boring 8-round jabfest against Durrell Richardson of Youngstown, Ohio.
• Marcus Oliveria of Kansas (19-0 with 15 kayos) knocked former reality TV star Otis Griffin out cold in the second round. Griffin, a former reality TV boxing star whose record is now 19-6, was effectively jabbing from the outside until Oliveria caught him with a perfect right uppercut.
• Thomas Snow of Washington DC (11-1 with 8 kayos) beat highly touted prospect Willshaun Boxley of Coon Rapids, Minnesota (now 5-1 with 3 kayos) in a six-round bout.
• Michael Faulk, a Queens native making his professional debut, defeated Mexico’s Marvin Rodriguez (1-2) by majority decision in a four-round bout.
• Ismail “Sharp Shooter” Muwendo of Kampala, Uganda (3-0 with 2 kayos), defeated Josh Jungjohann (0-2) in a scary first-round knockout. When Jungjohann went down for the second time in the first round, his head and neck landed on the bottom rope and whiplashed upward. Jungjohann was able to rise after about two minutes, and was expected to be taken to a hospital for an MRI.