<span style="font-weight: 400;">SEBASTIAN — Retired Heavyweight Boxing Champion Sherman Williams has contended with some of the greatest names in boxing history, even trading blows with fighters like former four-time heavyweight titleholder Evander Holyfield.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams, a Bahamian-born ringster, was recently named as an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp8WSvCURK4&t=4399s">inductee for the 2026 Florida Boxing Hall of Fame</a> for his career spanning nearly 30 years along with his work as a trainer. </span> [caption id="attachment_231212" align="alignleft" width="199"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-231212" title="image6" src="https://veronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image6-199x300.jpg" alt="image6" width="199" height="300" /> Sherman "The Tank" Williams faces Evander Holyfield in a boxing match in 2011 at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. PHOTO PROVIDED[/caption] <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I was overwhelmed and overjoyed at the same time,” said Williams, 53, of Port St. Lucie. “I was inducted along with such greats like Emanuel Steward and a few other legends that passed on and went to glory. I’m getting my recognition now while I’m here.”</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">But in Indian River County, Williams is making a name for himself outside of the ropes. The seasoned fighter with a record 42 wins, including 24 knockouts, took the lessons he learned in the boxing arena to a second, new career - security captain at Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“Situational awareness is the first thing you pick up in the sport of boxing. Once you put down the skipping rope and get done with cardio, the whole side of offense and defense is being alert at all times,” said Williams, who still maintains a healthy regiment in the gym.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“Here in this setting of the hospital, we have multiple things going on. Some people have joy, some have laughter, others have grief. People are dealing with different emotions all at the same time.”</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“Being able to pick up and identify the problem and/or possible potential risk if it exists - that’s one of the greatest skills I think I bring to this (job) from boxing that I use here at Orlando (Health) every day.”</span> <b>Building connections</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">On a typical day, Williams makes his rounds, going to each floor in the units every other hour for routine patrol. The retired boxer usually stops by the intensive care unit, progressive care unit, medical surgery wing and emergency room to speak with the doctors and nurses making life and death decisions every day.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s a lesson of learning the mindset of someone -reading their body language and stance - that he picked up as a boxer.</span> [caption id="attachment_231213" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-231213 size-medium" title="22ad648d 6ce5 44b9 b68d eb21d145bf6c" src="https://veronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/22ad648d-6ce5-44b9-b68d-eb21d145bf6c-300x225.jpg" alt="22ad648d 6ce5 44b9 b68d eb21d145bf6c" width="300" height="225" /> Sherman "The Tank" Williams (right) speaks with Kristi Powers, media relations and public affairs manager for Orlando Health East Region. PHOTO BY NICK SAMUEL[/caption] <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams said the opportunity to train and adapt to living in different countries around the world - including Denmark - also helped him connect with people in the hospital. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“The diversity and multiculturalism that I experienced in my boxing career in the past is an essential tool for me to de-escalate and deal with people from different backgrounds, different cultures, even sometimes different states of mind,” Williams said. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I get into conversations sometimes about boxing or sports in general and it helps. Having that diversified experience goes a long way as a tool I use here on my job at Orlando Health.” </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams said the transition from boxing to security was simple. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve done a lot of security work even in my younger days as a fighter. I kept my licenses current. I know that one day I want to own my own security company,” Williams said as he sat in his office at the 145-bed hospital located at U.S. 1 and Bay Street in the Sebastian-Roseland area. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“Carrying over into protection was natural. I always like the customer service side of dealing with people and being the person who looks out for the safety of everyone in the hospital and community.”</span> <b>The Caribbean Tank</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams, who has competed against and trained boxers around the world, earned the nickname “The Caribbean Tank” because of his ferocious onslaught of punches. The tactical athlete said he was drawn to boxing as a young boy growing up in the islands. </span> [caption id="attachment_231214" align="alignleft" width="199"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-231214" title="image5" src="https://veronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image5-199x300.jpg" alt="image5" width="199" height="300" /> FLYER PROVIDED[/caption] <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams joined the USA junior boxing team at age 15, jabbing his way up. The power puncher’s professional boxing career lasted from 1996 to 2021, a time when boxers like Holyfield and Mike Tyson dominated the headlines with attention grabbing bouts. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I was running off everybody in the gym. I had this overhand right - we now call it the counterpunch - that I was basically stunning everybody with,” Williams said. “My manager had an investor. He said ‘I’m going to invest in this guy on one condition - he’s going to be called Sherman the Tank.’”</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams, also known as The Tank or Tankman, said it was an honor for him to receive the ring name. Williams said his love of history made the ringside name even more worthwhile. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was the General Sherman Tank that defeated the Nazis and Hitler in the second World War,” Williams said of the armored vehicles that rolled across the European Theater during the war. “Rolling like a tank, hitting like a tank, unstoppable…unmovable… impenetrable.”</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams, a silver medalist in boxing for the 1996 Olympics, said he has trained fighters in Scandinavia, including Denmark and Sweden. He also serves as a volunteer coach with the Port St. Lucie Police Athletic League. </span> <b>Serving Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams began working for then-Sebastian River Medical Center back in 2022, two years before Orlando Health took over operations. The former boxer said patients speak to him occasionally about their treatments and care at the facility. </span> [caption id="attachment_231215" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-231215" title="IMG 2908" src="https://veronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_2908-300x225.jpeg" alt="IMG 2908" width="300" height="225" /> Sherman "The Tank" Williams monitors security cameras from his office at Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital. PHOTO PROVIDED[/caption] <span style="font-weight: 400;">Staying vigilant is key as Williams swiftly helps to solve different scenarios at the hospital, from a patient needing help after falling down to de-escalating a situation where a family member may become angry and yell at the nurses because of their perceptions that their loved one didn’t get timely care.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I can be doing three things at one time and still tend to an issue and make sure everybody is safe,” Williams said. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams said he’s grateful for the camaraderie among all the employees at Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital. The security captain said he sees himself working at the hospital - a big change from darting around the boxing ring - long term. </span> <b>Cultural Roots</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams often visits the Bahamas, especially during the country’s Independence Day festivities on July 10. The 5-foot 11-inch tall, 265-pound prizefighter described himself as a “proud Bahamian” and said he still has family in the island nation. </span> [caption id="attachment_231216" align="alignleft" width="237"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-231216" title="IMG 20260103 WA0030 (2)" src="https://veronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG-20260103-WA0030-2-237x300.jpg" alt="IMG 20260103 WA0030 (2)" width="237" height="300" /> Sherman "The Tank" Williams (middle row, second from left) was among 23 people, including boxers, trainers, promoters and media personnel, inducted into the 2026 Florida Boxing Hall of Fame. PHOTO PROVIDED[/caption] <span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m fortunate to enjoy both citizenships. The Bahamas is in my heart. It’s part of who I am,” Williams said. “I’m an Independence baby. Independence was 1972…the same year I was born. I was all into history and how we became a people and a nation.”</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Williams said as a boy he was blessed to be taught about the Founding Fathers of the Bahamas. He was also a youngster when he learned how the Caribbean country - with its historical connections to the U.S. - got its long-awaited independence from Britain.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Honoring his roots is an essential duty, something Williams says he shares with Black Americans. </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“When I look at my African American brothers and sisters, I share that same pride, hope and optimism because we came a long way,” Williams said. “The road was definitely paved by the ones before us.” </span>