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The torrent of abuse directed at Terrel Williams has intensified following the death of Prichard Colón, with people digging through social media posts more than eleven years old and even targeting apparently unrelated people with the same name. World Boxing News has documented the hostility aimed at Williams for years following the October 2015 fight that left Colón with catastrophic brain injuries. Colón’s death at 33 on August 13 has brought another wave, but the lengths some people are now going to in an attempt to find Williams have become extreme. Williams has effectively disappeared from the public eye. His former website, terrelwilliams.com, is no longer operational, WBN has been unable to locate an active social media presence belonging to him, and previous attempts to trace the former boxer through people connected to him have proved unsuccessful. That has not stopped people looking. Fresh abuse is appearing beneath photographs still accessible on Williams’ dormant Facebook account, people have gone back to boxing posts from before the Colón fight to attack him, and apparently unrelated people named Terrel or Terrell Williams are also being targeted. Terrel Williams Abuse Reaches 11-Year-Old Posts One of the most striking examples can be found on boxing reporter Elie Seckbach’s Instagram account. On May 11, 2015, more than five months before Williams fought Colón, Seckbach posted a photograph of Williams at Ten Goose Boxing Gym ahead of an unrelated fight. More than eleven years later, people have gone back to that post following Colón’s death. Fresh comments reviewed by WBN include Williams being branded a “killer.” The abuse has also returned to Williams’ own dormant Facebook account. WBN reported in May that the posts on the page had vanished after years of threats and abuse. At the time, it appeared that the last significant public outlet used by angry Colón supporters to reach Williams had effectively disappeared. However, photographs uploaded to the account remain accessible and can still be commented on. People have found them. Comments posted since Colón’s death include “You killed Prichard Colon!” while another person told Williams they hoped he had found God. The fresh messages sit alongside hundreds of older comments about the fight. WBN has documented far more serious threats against Williams over the years, including violent language directed at him and his family. Wrong Terrel Williams Targeted The backlash is no longer confined to accounts actually associated with the former boxer. WBN has found an apparently unrelated Instagram user named Terrell being targeted following Colón’s death. One person wrote “Mataste a Prichard,” Spanish for “You killed Prichard.” Other users immediately pointed out the mistake, with one explaining that the account did not belong to the boxer. It is not the first time this has happened. In May 2025, WBN reported that another man named Terrel Williams, who had posted on Instagram while serving time in prison, was inundated with insults from people who had mistaken him for the boxer. That Williams had nothing to do with the Colón fight. Even after people eventually pointed out that the wrong man was being targeted, abusive responses continued appearing beneath his posts years after they were published. Another Instagram account carrying Williams’ name and old boxing footage is currently attracting fresh hostility. WBN knows first-hand that Williams had already backed away from social media, while the account states it was created in 2024, meaning it is not an account Williams had been using throughout the years following the Colón fight. That has not prevented people who apparently believe it represents Williams from attacking it. Recent comments include accusations of murder and violent rhetoric. The account appears to exist predominantly around old Williams material and has now become another destination for people wanting to direct abuse at the former boxer. Williams Has Disappeared From Public View The difficulty finding the actual Terrel Williams is nothing new. WBN reported in November 2024 that attempts to contact boxing figures previously associated with Williams had produced no route to the former welterweight contender. At that time, people were already openly asking online how they could find him. One person asked, “Does anyone know how to find him?” Another wanted to know whether Williams had social media, while somebody else asked whether there was a way to contact him specifically to “send some hate his way.” Williams retired from boxing following his 2019 defeat to Thomas Dulorme and has maintained an extremely low profile since. His dormant Facebook page subsequently became the main destination for people wanting to vent their anger. By November 2024, one post had accumulated more than 3,500 comments. WBN subsequently documented people telling Williams he should be jailed, threatening revenge and, in one particularly disturbing instance, threatening his family. The hostility continued into 2025 with comments telling Williams he would “burn in hell,” branding him a murderer and calling for others to carry out threats against him. In May, the Facebook posts disappeared. It remains unknown whether Williams removed them himself, Facebook intervened, or another moderation or visibility issue was responsible. The remaining photographs have now provided another route for the abuse following Colón’s death. Williams Expressed Concern After Colón Fight Some of the renewed anger portrays Williams as someone who simply walked away from what happened without expressing concern for Colón. His documented comments following the fight show otherwise. Three days after the October 17, 2015, contest, Williams spoke about Colón as the Puerto Rican remained critically ill. “I cannot enjoy this victory. I’m worried about Prichard,” Williams told the LA Times at the time. Williams also denied deliberately attempting to injure Colón through illegal tactics. “There was never any thinking that I was going to do some dirty tactics,” he said. “We’re competitors, but it’s a sport; it’s not out of any maliciousness or anger.” Williams said he had been advised against visiting Colón in hospital out of respect for the family’s privacy and added: “I’m praying for this young man. Nothing else in fighting matters to me right now.” He addressed the tragedy again in 2018. “I pray for Prichard every day,” Williams said. “That’s never going to change. I wish him nothing but peace and health. “I would never intentionally harm someone like that. But I don’t place any blame on myself. I prayed about it. I wish the young man really well. It’s a hard situation for me and Colon’s family.” None of those comments erase the illegal punches Williams landed during the fight or what Colón and his family subsequently endured. They do, however, form part of the documented record and contradict any suggestion that Williams never publicly expressed concern for his former opponent. Prichard Would Not Have Wanted This Williams was penalized during the fight for an illegal blow behind the head, and there is every reason for people to remain angry about what happened to Prichard. There is a line, however, between that anger and death threats, abuse or targeting innocent people simply because they happen to share Terrel Williams’ name. Having known Prichard personally, we don’t believe he would have wanted the level of hatred now being expressed in his name. Prichard was a kind soul who understood the dangers that come with entering a boxing ring. WBN knew him before his professional career began, when he was a young man who loved boxing and dreamed of becoming a world champion. What happened to him was devastating, and the illegal punches he suffered will forever be part of the record. But threatening Williams, searching for him or abusing people who have absolutely nothing to do with the fight will not change what happened. Prichard deserved better than what happened to him inside that ring. His memory deserves better than this as well. About the Author Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.