Byron Williams (fictional character)
Encyclopedia
Byron Williams is a fictional character in the 1996 film Mars Attacks!
. He is a former heavyweight champion in boxing
and escapes the Martians' massacre in the end.
He is an African American
and he has sympathy in other people. This is evidenced when he is trying to earn more money and helps distract the martians in order to let the others escape.
He is revealed to use the Orthodox
stance in the boxing match near the end of the film. He is seen fighting with left foot and fist leading.
s. After this, an announced that there is a telephone call for him. He goes to the telephone booth and he starts talking with his ex-wife about her problems with her sons' disappearance for 2 nights. Then, the casino manager sees him and Byron is forced to stop the call. Later, he asks him to increase his budget but is rejected.
Byron is present at watching the Martian Ambassador kills governmental officials in Washington. Then, when Martians start invading Las Vegas and a few Martians damage the casino, Byron pursues one of them. The Martian stops when it sees an old lady still playing a slot machine. Byron manages to get to the Martian in time right before it can kill the woman. He pulled its glass helmet to let it face him and he delivered a right punch straight through its helmet, breaking it. When his company arrived, he obtains its two laser guns and start discussing a plan to escape Las Vegas. It turns out that Tom Jones can fly a plane and Barbara has a private plane in an airfield just opposite the freeway.
Later, Byron, Tom, Cindy, Barbara and the Rude Gambler are seen running away from the casino and heading towards the airport with Barbara's plane in it. The group suddenly gets caught in a maze of old advertisements and the Rude Gambler goes away from the rest but gets killed by a Martian. The Martian is subsequently killed by Barbara's gun and the rest continue deep into the maze.
After that, they manage to reach the other end of the maze and sees the airfield. However, many other small aircrafts are shown being destroyed and burning on the ground, indicating that Martians have been here. The group infiltrates the hub and sees the plane still intact. Tom and Barbara boards the plane while Byron and Cindy go to the door to open it. After opening the door, they discover a huge army of Martians and Martian Ambassador blocking the runway. Seeing this, Byron quickly comes up with a plan and orders Cindy and the others to take off without him. After this, Byron runs out to the field, towards the army of 50 Martians and their leader.
despite the obvious absurdity to have a fistfight with a non-human. While heading towards the army, Byron slows down a little and starts shouting out his plan to the Martians.
He shouts "No weapons! No clown outfit! Just me! Byron Williams! Heavyweight Champion......Of the World!". While doing this, Byron tears off/gets rid of all of his unnecessary clothings which are his gun, his bracelets, pharaoh necklace and two strips of shoulder clothing. He is left wearing a bullet-proof vest and a pair of pharaoh-themed trunks. Once finished, he goes into his boxing stance. Since, he has no boxing gloves with him, he is forced to fight with his own bare fists. He wants to challenge the Martian Ambassador first. With the aid of telepathy
, the Ambassador blindly accepts their fist-on-fist fight under the belief that Byron wants to negotiate with it.
As the Ambassador faces Byron, the two encircle around one another. Since the Ambassador's height is until Byron's chest, Byron has to bend down more than what a normal boxer does to accommodate both of their heights. The army watches in awe and all of them walked closer to the fight. Some imitated Byron's actions while others cheered their leader on. The Ambassador's defence was not at all accurate as he is only blocking its neck and his overly-huge glass helmet is left unguarded.
Just when the Ambassador began to attempt communication with Byron to negotiate something, Byron delivers a sudden left jab
to its glass helmet before quickly returning into his defence. The blow rocked the Ambassador and it quickly went back to his opponent. Byron then swung a second punch and the Ambassador went dizzy for a moment. Since that the Ambassador has had no hand-to-hand combat training, it is completely unaware of what's happening. The Ambassador still tried to copy his stance but Byron interrupted it with another punch to its helmet. The blow made the Ambassador stumble back and it shook its head to relieve its dizziness. While doing this, Byron decided to relax and let go of his defence. He shook his head to relieve the exhaustion. He took his time as he knew that his opponent is no match for him. Then, Byron went into his boxing stance again and as the Ambassador was about to do the same, Byron punches it again and it let go of its defence. Noticing this, Byron took careful aim and punched. The Ambassador's helmet slightly broke by the impact. Byron jabbed it 3 more times and finally smashed its helmet with a right uppercut, killing it.
The army got angry and all start to fight Byron. As the fight progresses, Byron starts being surrounded more and he became too overwhelmed by the number of Martians and he slowly went on his knees.
Towards the end of the film, Byron is shown in Washington and he is seen intact despite bruises on his limbs. He survived the fight and once he sees his family in their apartment, Byron runs towards the entrance of the apartment, reuniting with his family.
|-
|align="center" colspan=8|3 Wins (3 knockouts), 0 Loss, 0 Draws
|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent(s)
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type of Win/Loss
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rounds
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left|
Sonny Liston
|Unknown
|12
|1969
|align=left| Las Vegas
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left|Unknown
|Unknown
|12
|1973
|align=left| Cardiff, Wales
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left| Martian Ambassador
|Knockout
|2
|1995
|align=left| Las Vegas
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left| 50 Martians
|Knockouts
|Varies
|1995
|align=left| Las Vegas
|align=left|
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
. He is a former heavyweight champion in boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and escapes the Martians' massacre in the end.
Background
None of his childhood and early life is revealed throughout the film. However, some information is told about his boxing career. He has an ex-wife, Louise and two sons who are residing in Washington while he is in Las Vegas, trying to earn money for his family.He is an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and he has sympathy in other people. This is evidenced when he is trying to earn more money and helps distract the martians in order to let the others escape.
He is revealed to use the Orthodox
Orthodox stance
An orthodox stance is a way of positioning both the feet and hands in combat sports such as boxing, karate, kick boxing, and mixed martial arts. A traditional orthodox stance is one in which the boxer places his left foot farther in front of the right foot, thus having his weaker side closer to the...
stance in the boxing match near the end of the film. He is seen fighting with left foot and fist leading.
Role in Mars Attacks!
In the first half of the film, Byron is first seen in the casino he is working in. He is taking pictures with nunNun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s. After this, an announced that there is a telephone call for him. He goes to the telephone booth and he starts talking with his ex-wife about her problems with her sons' disappearance for 2 nights. Then, the casino manager sees him and Byron is forced to stop the call. Later, he asks him to increase his budget but is rejected.
Byron is present at watching the Martian Ambassador kills governmental officials in Washington. Then, when Martians start invading Las Vegas and a few Martians damage the casino, Byron pursues one of them. The Martian stops when it sees an old lady still playing a slot machine. Byron manages to get to the Martian in time right before it can kill the woman. He pulled its glass helmet to let it face him and he delivered a right punch straight through its helmet, breaking it. When his company arrived, he obtains its two laser guns and start discussing a plan to escape Las Vegas. It turns out that Tom Jones can fly a plane and Barbara has a private plane in an airfield just opposite the freeway.
Later, Byron, Tom, Cindy, Barbara and the Rude Gambler are seen running away from the casino and heading towards the airport with Barbara's plane in it. The group suddenly gets caught in a maze of old advertisements and the Rude Gambler goes away from the rest but gets killed by a Martian. The Martian is subsequently killed by Barbara's gun and the rest continue deep into the maze.
After that, they manage to reach the other end of the maze and sees the airfield. However, many other small aircrafts are shown being destroyed and burning on the ground, indicating that Martians have been here. The group infiltrates the hub and sees the plane still intact. Tom and Barbara boards the plane while Byron and Cindy go to the door to open it. After opening the door, they discover a huge army of Martians and Martian Ambassador blocking the runway. Seeing this, Byron quickly comes up with a plan and orders Cindy and the others to take off without him. After this, Byron runs out to the field, towards the army of 50 Martians and their leader.
Boxing Match: Professional Boxer vs. Unprepared martians
It turns out that his plan is to shove the army aside so that the others can take off safely. He decides to challenge the Martians to a modern bare-knuckle fistfightBare-knuckle boxing
Bare-knuckle boxing is the original form of boxing, closely related to ancient combat sports...
despite the obvious absurdity to have a fistfight with a non-human. While heading towards the army, Byron slows down a little and starts shouting out his plan to the Martians.
He shouts "No weapons! No clown outfit! Just me! Byron Williams! Heavyweight Champion......Of the World!". While doing this, Byron tears off/gets rid of all of his unnecessary clothings which are his gun, his bracelets, pharaoh necklace and two strips of shoulder clothing. He is left wearing a bullet-proof vest and a pair of pharaoh-themed trunks. Once finished, he goes into his boxing stance. Since, he has no boxing gloves with him, he is forced to fight with his own bare fists. He wants to challenge the Martian Ambassador first. With the aid of telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
, the Ambassador blindly accepts their fist-on-fist fight under the belief that Byron wants to negotiate with it.
As the Ambassador faces Byron, the two encircle around one another. Since the Ambassador's height is until Byron's chest, Byron has to bend down more than what a normal boxer does to accommodate both of their heights. The army watches in awe and all of them walked closer to the fight. Some imitated Byron's actions while others cheered their leader on. The Ambassador's defence was not at all accurate as he is only blocking its neck and his overly-huge glass helmet is left unguarded.
Just when the Ambassador began to attempt communication with Byron to negotiate something, Byron delivers a sudden left jab
Jab
A jab is a type of punch used in the martial arts.Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended...
to its glass helmet before quickly returning into his defence. The blow rocked the Ambassador and it quickly went back to his opponent. Byron then swung a second punch and the Ambassador went dizzy for a moment. Since that the Ambassador has had no hand-to-hand combat training, it is completely unaware of what's happening. The Ambassador still tried to copy his stance but Byron interrupted it with another punch to its helmet. The blow made the Ambassador stumble back and it shook its head to relieve its dizziness. While doing this, Byron decided to relax and let go of his defence. He shook his head to relieve the exhaustion. He took his time as he knew that his opponent is no match for him. Then, Byron went into his boxing stance again and as the Ambassador was about to do the same, Byron punches it again and it let go of its defence. Noticing this, Byron took careful aim and punched. The Ambassador's helmet slightly broke by the impact. Byron jabbed it 3 more times and finally smashed its helmet with a right uppercut, killing it.
The army got angry and all start to fight Byron. As the fight progresses, Byron starts being surrounded more and he became too overwhelmed by the number of Martians and he slowly went on his knees.
Towards the end of the film, Byron is shown in Washington and he is seen intact despite bruises on his limbs. He survived the fight and once he sees his family in their apartment, Byron runs towards the entrance of the apartment, reuniting with his family.
Professional boxing record
This is an incomplete list as the film does not give any other information about his boxing career.|-
|align="center" colspan=8|3 Wins (3 knockouts), 0 Loss, 0 Draws
|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent(s)
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type of Win/Loss
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rounds
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left|
Sonny ListonSonny Liston
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston was a professional boxer and ex-convict known for his toughness, punching power, and intimidating appearance who became world heavyweight champion in 1962 by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round...
|Unknown
|12
|1969
|align=left|
Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left|Unknown
|Unknown
|12
|1973
|align=left| Cardiff, Wales
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left| Martian Ambassador
|Knockout
|2
|1995
|align=left|
Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win
|align=left| 50 Martians
|Knockouts
|Varies
|1995
|align=left|
Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
|align=left|