By Charles Brun: Fresh of his first-round knockout victory over journeyman Andrew Robinson (24-5-1, 7 KOs) last Saturday night, Liam Williams vowed to walk though WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade in his next fight.
Williams (23-2-1, 18 KOs) is the WBO mandatory to the unbeaten Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs), and he believes that the World Boxing Organization will force the fight next.
If Liam continues to push hard for the Andrade fight, he could wind up battling for the vacated WBO 160-lb title against one of these contenders:
- Jaime Munguia
- Kanat Islam
- Janibek Alimkhanuly
Liam would have major issues with the highly talented 2016 Olympian Alimkhanuly (9-0, 5 KOs). That fighter can do everything that Williams can do, but he posses better boxing skills, and he’s a little younger. A
Alimkhanuly would be a dangerous fight for Williams, and he might lose to him. Williams would have a puncher’s chance of beating Alimkhanuly, but that’s about it.
Demetrius has no interest in Williams
Andrade, 32, has already made it clear that he has zero interest in fighting the UK fighter Williams, regardless of him being his WBO mandatory. Demetrius has bigger targets on his hitlist in the following fighters:
- Canelo Alvarez
- Jermall Charlo
- Billy Joe Saunders
Those guys are the ones that Andrade wants to fight, but there’s a chance that he won’t get any of them. Former WBO 160-lb champion Saunders already moved up to 168 in what appeared to be a ducking move to avoid having to defend against Andrade in 2019.
Although Saunders has talked of Andrade running away from him, it appears to be the opposite. Saunders wants no part of ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade.
Canelo Alvarez has shown any interest in fighting Andrade, even though both guys are with DAZN, and a fight between them would likely please the top brass with the streaming giant. You can say that the slick, hard-hitting southpaw Andrade’ style and size are all wrong for the 5’8″ Canelo.
There’s nothing for Andrade to gain in defending his WBO title against Liam Williams because he’s not well known in the States. Moreover, Williams owns two losses to Liam Smith, a fighter that Andrade would likely school. Andrade won’t make any money fighting Williams. In terms of fan interest and money for Andrade, it would be another Luke Keeler type of fight.
Liam Williams’ first-round destruction of the journeyman Robinson took place last Saturday without boxing fans at the BT Sport Studio, in Stratford, UK. The fight event was shown on BT Sport.
Liam Williams: I’ll dismantle Andrade
“Yeah, of course. It’s excellent news,” said Williams to IFL TV about Andrade needing to fight him next. “They’ve [WBO] stuck it on him again, the mandatory thing where he needs to defend against me next or give it up, it’s as simple as that.
Demetrius Andrade, if you’re watching, hurry up and make a decision, my man.
“100 percent,” said Liam when asked if he’ll similarly stop him as he did with Andrew Robinson. “I’m going to walk through him and dismantle him and ruin him. I believe when I get that fight, there will be no stopping me. This is my time,” said Liam.
It sounds like all the weak substandard opponents that Williams has been matched against in his last eight fights have given him a false sense of omnipotence. You hate to say it, but Williams doesn’t possess unlimited power.
The match-making that has been done on Liam’s behalf by Queensbury has planted some ideas into his head, making him believe that he’s better than he actually is.
That’s why it would have been better for them to give Williams a dose of reality to let him know how far away he is from a talented fighter like Andrade. What Queensbury should have done is matched Williams against Janibek Alimkhanuly in a sink or swim fight.
If Williams is as good as he thinks he is, he will beat Alimkhanuly with flying colors. If not, then he would flounder as he did in his two losses to Liam Smith.
Williams felt rushed to KO Robinson
“I clipped him with a jab and then went to throw a right hand to the body, and he dipped in,” said Liam Williams to IFL TV in talking about his clash of heads with Andrew Robinson in the first round.
“It wasn’t intentional. He was doing his own thing. I wasn’t sure what he was planning to do, but s*** happens. And I got nicked on top of the head. I felt this probably because it was stinging and obviously the blood.
“I just knew probably from when the blood started flowing that it was 15 to 20 seconds before I finished it [against Robinson]. It was just a thought, ‘I’ve got to end this here because it could end up not going as planned.
“I clipped him,” said Williams about his body-shot stoppage of Robinson. “If I hit anyone clean, head, body, I’m going to hurt them bad, and I’m going to take most people out. It’s just boxing. If you get hit by somebody like me, you’re going to get hurt,” said Williams.
Liam overrated to the cut on his forehead because it wasn’t that bad, and it was high enough to where it wouldn’t have caused the fight to be halted.
Williams should have stayed calm and waited until the end of the round for his trainer to examine the cut before deciding to go for the quick knockout.
Liam needed a better tune-up
Robinson was brought in as a tune-up level opponent to give Liam some rounds, and he wasn’t supposed to obliterate the guy. That defeated the whole purpose of bringing him in.
The way the fight ended so quickly, it’s as if Williams didn’t see any action at all. That’s bad news for Williams if he ends up facing Andrade in early 2021 because he’ll be just as rusty as him.
If Liam’s promoters at Queensbury had any reservations about him smashing Robinson to bits in the early rounds, they should have picked a better opponent for him. At the very least, they should have found someone tough that would have given Williams some badly needed rounds.
One of these contenders would have been ideal for Liam Williams:
- Esquiva Falcao
- Vincent Feigenbutz
- Jaime Munguia
- Maciej Sulecki
- Tureano Johnson
Some of those fighters would have had a chance of beating Williams, but that’s the whole point. If Williams wants to improve, he can’t be fighting fodder-level opposition like Andrew Robinson, Alantez Fox, Karim Achour, Mark Heffron, and Craig Nicholson.
