Liam Williams can conjure up the Cardiff magic against Chris Eubank Jr
Cardiff boasts a rich boxing tapestry and Liam Williams will look to join Joe Calzaghe, Lennox Lewis and Anthony Joshua in earning big scalps in the Welsh capital… the former roofer CAN conjure up the magic of his predecessors against Chris Eubank Jr
- Cardiff boasts a rich boxing tapestry and has staged huge fights over the years
- Joe Calzaghe, Anthony Joshua and Lennox Lewis have all dazzled in Wales
- The country is yearning for a new champion to fill the void left by Calzaghe
- Liam Williams has come close to a world title and returns to action next week
- He takes on Chris Eubank Jr, who he came across in a near tragedy in 2016
Las Vegas is regarded as the home of boxing, and London has held a handful of raucous nights over the past decade, but Cardiff boasts a boxing tapestry as rich as any other city in the world.
From hometown heroes Freddie Welsh and Jimmie Driscoll slugging it out at the American Roller Rink in 1910 to Ronnie James taking on boxing great Ike Williams at Ninian Park in 1946, the Welsh capital has been home to the sport’s greatest battles over the past century.
More recently, fighters hailing from outside of Wales have crossed the Severn Bridge to dance under the lights in Cardiff. Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno contested the heavyweight title in 1993, while Anthony Joshua defeated Carlos Takam at the Principality Stadium in 2017.
Cardiff boasts a rich boxing tapestry and has hosted a number of big fights over the years
Yet no fighter has quite captured the hearts and minds of the adoring Welsh public more than Joe Calzaghe.
The Italian Dragon’s considerable talent meant that the eyes of the boxing world were fixated on Cardiff, where he became a huge name on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean following his 2007 win over Mikkel Kessler.
Wales has been yearning for a hero of Calzaghe’s ilk to come to the fore once again and next Saturday night, just across town at the Motorpoint Arena, Liam Williams will look to inspire the masses against Chris Eubank Jr.
This Rhondda native has always been a fighter. From the age of 9, Williams took up amateur boxing and was briefly a roofer in the valleys before turning professional at 18 years old.
Joe Calzaghe captured the hearts and minds of the Welsh masses during his glittering career
The Italian Dragon was lured away from the Welsh capital to the United States after 2007
‘I enjoyed being with good people but it was never great money,’ he told The Guardian. ‘It was hard work in all sorts of weather but no one has it easy in Rhondda.
‘People say it’s a tough place but for me it’s a very tight community. People there will tell you that, whatever I achieve, I’ve not changed.’
Boasting an impressive amateur record and a blistering start to his professional career, Williams was earmarked to compete with big names from a young age. In fact, he came across Eubank Jr for the first time at the age of 24, on a night that had near-tragic consequences.
March 26, 2016, saw Williams staring down Eubank Jr from the other side of the ring, yet he wasn’t going head-to-head with the Englishman that night. Rather, he was in the corner for his good friend and training partner, Nick Blackwell.
Anthony Joshua also defended his former heavyweight titles in Wales, as well as Lennox Lewis
Williams assisted his trainer, Gary Lockett, as Eubank Jr won the fast-paced contest in the tenth round after a ringside doctor deemed that Blackwell was unable to continue owing to large swelling above his left eye.
Just minutes after the fight concluded, Blackwell was given oxygen and stretchered out of Wembley Arena, where he was subsequently taken to St Mary’s Hospital and placed in a medically-induced coma.
Blackwell was brought out of the coma after nine days and announced his retirement from boxing. Just months later, Williams was in the corner again for stablemate Dale Evans against Mike Towell in Scotland. Towell died 24 hours after the fight owing to injuries sustained in the ring.
‘It’s unusual for one terrible incident like this to happen in your career,’ Williams said. ‘But twice – and with the second happening six months later? It was horrible to see what happened to Mike – and Nick is my close mate. It really got to me.’
Now, Liam Williams is looking to conjure up the magic of his boxing predecessors in Cardiff
Despite those harrowing experiences, Williams fought on and built an impressive record of 16 wins and one draw from 17 professional bouts, lining him up to face Liam Smith for the interim WBO middleweight title.
A razor-close contest saw Williams ahead by one point on the scorecards, but the Welshman suffered a nasty cut above his eye that seriously impaired his vision, leaving Lockett with no choice but to pull his fighter from the contest in the 10th round.
‘The eye was damaged, it was a decision that had to be made,’ Lockett said in explanation of the call to protect his fighter.
‘He said he couldn’t see. I can’t let him fight with that. It was only going to get worse. He couldn’t see out of it.’
The former roofer from Rhondda came across Chris Eubank Jr in a near-tragic bout in 2016
Williams was cornering his friend Nick Blackwell, who was subsequently put in a coma
The British pair met again in November 2017, with Smith emerging triumphant via a majority decision after a close 12-round affair in Newcastle.
Williams went back to the drawing board and racked up seven consecutive wins – all inside the distance – to put him in pole position for a shot at Demetrius Andrade’s WBO middleweight crown.
However, The Machine was outclassed over 12 rounds at the Hard Rock Hotel in Florida. Despite his relentless pressure, the Welshman was unable to pin down the wily American, who rocked him in the first and floored him in the second.
The 29-year-old missed out on the title last time out but will look to return to the summit
‘He was a lot better than I thought, far more slippery,’ admitted Williams.
Now the Welshman is once again looking to get back on track, and can take a huge scalp in defeating Eubank Jr.
There is no love lost between the British rivals, and, making his first appearance in his homeland since 2018, the 29-year-old will hope to conjure up the magic of his boxing predecessors in the Welsh capital.
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article