Former Air Force boxer returns to Tinker Published Jan. 18, 2011 By Nicole Turner Staff Writer Tinker AFB, Okla. -- You might still see his poster on the walls of the Gerrity Fitness and Sports Center or in boxing gyms throughout the area. Jonathan "Das" Williams was Tinker's first boxer to win an Air Force boxing heavyweight championship and after more than 10 years he has returned to the base. However, if he's seen in the ring with his boxing gloves on, he won't be training, instead, he'll be coaching. When Williams was stationed at Tinker in 1992, he practiced martial arts on a regular basis, but he never imagined that only four years later he would become a championship boxer rather than the next Karate Kid. Williams' priorities changed when his friend and roommate, Mike, suggested the two of them attend a boxing clinic the base was offering. Williams said he had never boxed before in his life, and the closest he came to it was when he and Mike would decide to put on boxing gloves and play around pretending to "settle arguments" over stuff like who drank the last of the Kool-Aid. "I really wasn't even interested in boxing but Mike talked me into it, and that's when I met Suarez," Williams said. Gualberto Suarez, one of the leaders and coaches at the clinic, would soon be Williams' boxing coach who would lead him all the way to the Air Force boxing championship title. "I picked up on it fairly quick and I had a natural talent," Williams said. Suarez noticed Williams' boxing capacity and potential and approached him about training and joining the Air Force boxing team. "My first thought was, 'The Air Force has a boxing team?'" Williams said. "But then I was like, 'Man, I'm not going down there to get my butt whooped at some Air Force boxing matches.' I really thought he was crazy." Though it was Suarez's first official time to coach a boxer, he knew a boxing athlete when he saw one. After convincing Williams to give it a try, together they worked day and night to condition and prepare for the national Air Force boxing team tryouts in San Antonio. "It was almost like having another full-time job," Williams said. Suarez helped Williams work on strength, balance, defense and offense, how to jab correctly and throw a right hook, as well as sparring, which is practice fighting. "Sparring helps them learn different styles," Suarez said. Suarez also took Williams to local boxing gyms to work on other techniques from professional boxers. Williams even had the privilege of working with Conan, an instructor who owns a partial boxing academy in Norman. Conan has taught prominent actors and athletes such as Chuck Norris. "We really thought we were in shape until we met up with Conan," Williams said. "He would fight 10 rounds with everyone in his classes and then turn around and still whoop our butts." But all of his intense training paid off. Once in San Antonio at Kelly Air Force Base, Williams competed among 50 other men for one of only 12 spots on the Air Force boxing team. After contending in several matches and winning each one, Williams earned a spot -- the top spot -- in the heavyweight class. The first year Williams was on the team he won every match he fought in, earning himself the nickname "Das," which is short for "Da storm." "I was fast like lightening but still powerful like thunder," Williams said. Eventually making his way to the Air Force championship fight, Williams won the match with ease. "The guy I had to fight was so tall. He was like 6'3" or 6'5"," Williams said. "Thirty seconds into the fight I knocked him out cold. I remember just moving around and he was throwing out punches but then I threw one left and one right and that right made a connection. If you listen to it on tape you literally hear a pop. I remember his eyes just rolled to the back of his head and he started falling back like a big tree." Following the Air Force championship, Williams went on to further competitions to try out for more teams including Golden Gloves and the Armed Forces with other military boxers. He even tried out for Nationals in Colorado, which ultimately leads to the U.S. Olympic team. Though Williams had boxing skill, it wasn't enough to make the National team. He said that experience however, is what made him realize how talented other boxers were and how much effort it takes to be a professional boxer. "After winning the Air Force championship my head kind of swelled up, but we got up there to Nationals and we really found out how hard these guys work to get to there," Williams said. "That was the eye opener for me. In the Air Force I might fight maybe five fights to get there, but civilians on other teams fight about 25." Williams might not have been on the Olympic team, but he was a star on the Air Force boxing team. He was offered an opportunity to become a World Class athlete for the Air Force but ultimately turned it down. "They basically pull you out of your job and that's all you do is train all the way up until the Olympics," Williams said. However, he continued to box for the next four years on the Air Force team and won three more championships. In all five years of his boxing career in the Air Force, Williams was only knocked out once, which was in his championship fight in 1998, the only time he did not win the championship title. "I was losing and the last words I remember was Mike saying, 'Where's your heart at?' So I remember both of us just swinging and punching and then I think I hit him but, I know he hit me," Williams said. "That was the first time I actually got dropped." Suarez has since coached at least 10 other championship boxers in the Air Force. But Suarez will always consider his first coaching experience with Williams special and unique. "I've had good heavyweights but not like him," Suarez said. "He was fast and he was strong, and nobody else has compared to him." Since his Air Force boxing career ended, Williams has only boxed on the side for the fun and love of the sport. Now that he is older and just recently became stationed at Tinker again, he said he would like to help Suarez coach. Looking back on his accomplishments, Williams said he is most proud of his very first Air Force title. "I had doubt and lack of confidence, but I was able to overcome that. I was voted pound for pound the strongest fighter on the Air Force team," Williams said. Williams said he does miss competing and the feel of a victory. However, he knows that he could still fight if he wanted to because he keeps in good physical condition. "But now that I'm back I think I'll be content with helping Suarez coach," Williams said. Suarez offers classes at the Gerrity from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If interested in attending, call him at 202-2896. "I like to have fun when I coach," Suarez said. "We work hard but we come out with smiles."