Paul Williams

In the first title fight of his eight-year career, Paul Williams was facing Antonio Margarito, a 13-year veteran looking for his eighth successful title defense. Yet Williams never lost his poise. Midway through the fight Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, Margarito made his anticipated charge, unleashing a barrage of punishing right hands, connecting solidly on Williams' jaw, powerfully into Williams' midsection and finally opening a cut over Williams' left eye.

The ongoing revival of boxing, boosted by bouts between the best fighters in the world, has an odd man out. His name is Paul Williams. He has a 33-0 record with 24 knockouts, a unanimous decision over former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito last July, and the intimidating tools that come with being a frequent-punching, 6-foot-1 southpaw with an 84-inch reach.

In the years following World War I, clients often entered the new office of Los Angeles architect Paul Williams without realizing that he was black. After meeting Williams they would freeze and attempt to withdraw graciously. Williams was trying to breach an almost totally white profession, however, and he was ready with several tricks.

Six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will be sidelined indefinitely, though she did not say why she will be out. "I've just been having some issues that I need to resolve, so I'm working on that at the moment and I'm hoping to be back playing as soon as possible," Williams said Tuesday at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Fla. "I'm not going to get any further into it, but of course I love the sport."

He has parried the thunderbolts of Thor, been zapped by Zeus; he must be some kind of superman. Or he is an incredibly hapless human--and God is really, really mad at him. This much we know: Paul Williams was struck by lightning the other day. For the second time. The storm was getting nasty, just like the first time.

Nicolai Ouroussoff name-dropped every major architect of the moment in his piece about the transformation of Los Angeles' skyline underway due to several current and pending construction projects ("Postcards From a City in Progress," Aug. 19). Yet he omitted the most important architect and, I would argue, the best: Paul Williams. Williams' indoor/outdoor designs perfectly capture the spirit of Los Angeles and take best advantage or our wonderful climate. Further, they exemplify understatement at its best.

It was a new place to practice their craft, but the two-headed monster promoted by Dan Goossen and named Arreola/Williams seemed to feel right at home Saturday night at the new Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario. The crowd was listed as 5,400, in a new stadium that can seat 10,000 for events such as boxing, and that seemed a decent crowd for a sport that hasn't been featured in this region in some time. The new arena has already played host to the likes of a Lakers exhibition game.

Once boxing's heavyweight division put its ear to the ground 12 years ago, it hasn't been heard from much since. That ear, of course, belonged to Evander Holyfield, who, somewhat pathetically, continues on. The piece of Holyfield's ear went to the canvas when Mike Tyson bit it off. Tyson, who, somewhat pathetically, still hangs around the sport, achieved the near impossible. He sickened millions of boxing fans who assumed they couldn't be.

Actress and singer Connie Stevens has listed her longtime Westside estate for $18 million. The Paul Williams-designed main house features a two-story entry with a circular staircase; living, dining and family rooms; a library; a gym; a wine cellar; an atrium; a billiard room; seven bedrooms; and eight bathrooms in 12,000 square feet of living space. The two-acre site includes a tennis court with viewing deck, a swimming pool, fountains, a gazebo and a rose garden. There also are two one-bedroom guest houses, a chauffeur's apartment, a recording studio and a pool house.

The article describing the work of Los Angeles architect Paul Williams was bittersweet ("Master Class," by Leslee Komaiko, Metropolis, March 7). Williams is known for his significant contributions to our city's landscape, yet his work faces the threat of destruction. Surely Harvard-Westlake School can find a preservation solution to keep the Morris Landau residence in its historic location. Williams overcame enormous obstacles to achieve success. We should not have to remember his visionary work from pictures.