By Jeff Aronow: Liam ‘The Machine’ Williams predicts that he’s going to knockout WBO middleweight champion Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade this Saturday, April 17th, within six or seven rounds when they got at it in the main event on DAZN.

WBO mandatory challenger Williams (23-2-1, 18 KOs) will be the underdog when he gets in there with the unbeaten Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

With Liam’s punching power, he expects to take the 32-year-old Andrade out by the fight’s midpoint. It won’t be easy, though, as Williams will be the visiting fighter, and the crowd will be rooting loudly for the home country fighter Andrade.

This is a formidable task for the 28-year-old Williams, as he’s never fought anyone with the type of talent that the 2008 U.S Olympian Andrade possesses.

The closest fighter that Williams has faced during his 10-year pro career that somewhat comes close to the skill level of Andrade is Liam Smith, and he lost twice to him in 2017.

Granted, those defeats came four years ago, and Williams has won all of his seven fights since then, but his opposition has been marginal.

Liam Williams with a life-changing opportunity

“Obviously, this fight is a life-changing fight. It’s one of them ones where it’s a massive thing for me to win a world title anyway, to beat the likes of Demetrius Andrade,” said Liam Williams to CR Media.

“I’m also looking forward, there are so many opportunities,” Williams continued. “You’ve got the likes of Canelo, Golovkin, Charlos. When I win this fight, the opportunities are endless. I’m going to get some massive fights and massive paydays too.

“Andrade, he’s obviously very good at what he does,” said Liam. “He’s a tall, rangy southpaw with a very good skill-set. Let’s not get it twisted. I’ve got a very big task in front of me, but it’s one that I can pull off.

“We’re working towards a strong game plan, and we’re training so hard. Everything is falling into place, and I’m very confident that I can bring this WBO title back home,” said Liam Williams.

A win here for Williams could lead to him getting a unification fight against IBF champ Gennady Golovkin, WBA champ Ryota Murata or WBC champ Jermall Charlo.

It would be too much to hope for Williams getting a fight with Canelo Alvarez, though. Alvarez is fighting at 168 now, so he’s probably not going to want to drop down to 160 to challenge Liam for his WBO belt.

Andrade tends to be a bit lazy, says Ingle

“Demetrius Andrade is a good southpaw, he’s had a good amateur career, he’s had a good professional career, and he’s been a world champion at light middleweight,” said Williams’ trainer Dominic Ingle.

“So he’s proven in the field, he’s 32-years-old,” said Ingle in talking about Demetrius. “I remember him covering over here and beating Brian Rose in quite a fight. It was seven rounds, and he came into Rose’s backyard and beat him.

“So his strengths are that he’s tricky and he can fight and he’s got a good ringcraft and shot variety and medium power,” Ingle continued about Andrade. “He tends to be a little bit lazy.

“I think the big fights will bring out the best version in him. So we’re up against it going over to America to fight him, but it’s an opportunity Liam’s got to take.,” said Ingle on Williams taking on Andrade.

Demetrius does look lazy at times, especially in the second half of his fights. He starts conserving energy and lets his opponents creep back into his fights.

It’s fair to say that Andrade likes to coast when he builds up an early lead, and he doesn’t look overly ambitious at times.

Liam not changing anything for this fight

“To me, he’s just a man with two arms, two legs, and one head, which I’m going to punch him,” said Liam Williams. “It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I always train hard, I never cut corners anyway.

“What’s the point of changing something that doesn’t need to be changed.

“I’m going to wake up every morning and put in my full effort as I always do, and I’m going to go in and knock him out just as I knock everybody else out.

“Whether I’m fighting Joe Bloggs off the street or a guy in the pub, I’ll train for him just as hard for him as Andrade or Canelo,” said Williams.

“That’s simply because even though I know I’m a lot better than some fighters, you want to win in the same way whether it’s a good fight or a bad fight.

“You have to put in a full effort for every single opponent, and just do a better job of some than you would others,” said Liam.

“That’s a case of business as usual, work hard, put everything in, and come out on top,” Williams said.

There’s money to be made for Liam if he beats Andrade. He’ll need to maneuver the offers carefully that will pour in.

Demetrius knows what Williams has got

“We prepare whether it’s a world-class operator or a British class operator, we prepare the exact same way,” said Ingle of Williams’ preparation for fights.

“The British level fighters, Liam should be beating them in four or five rounds. World title eliminators, we’re supposed to beat them in seven or eight rounds.

“That prepares you for when you’re going and expect to do 12 rounds against the likes of Andrade. It’s not going to be an easy job for him. It’s not going to be one of his fights where he’s knocking him out in five or six rounds.

“Andrade knows what Liam has got, even though he tries to make out like he doesn’t know,” continued Ingle. “Of course, he’s watched and he knows he can punch.

“He knows he’s aggressive, and it’s going to be his job to keep out of the way and nick this fight.

“Andrade is the favorite, he’s the champion and he’s an American. So we’re a few rounds down before we go in.

“Liam has got to stick with that plan and stick to his boxing and not let Andrade frustrate him and get him off track,” Ingle said.

Demetrius always studies his opponents well, and he knows the type of threat that the heavy-handed Williams presents.

This is perhaps the hardest puncher Andrade will have faced during his 13-year pro career, so he’s got to take him seriously.

Biggest puncher’s Andrade has faced:

Vanes Martirosyan
Saul Duan
Willie Nelson
Jack Culcay

Andrade is playing mindgames

“People keep saying, ‘I think he’s overlooking you, he’s not really paying you the attention that he should be,'” said Liam Williams of Andrade. “I think that’s a bit of a mind game to try and make me think he’s overlooking me.

“He knows I’m a danger, he knows I’m a massive threat in taking his title, and he’s going to be training very, very hard.

“He knows this is going to be his hardest fight, and I fully believe he’s going to be getting his first loss. Obviously, I want to make a massive name for myself,” said Williams.

“I want to be known alongside the likes of Joe Calzaghe from Wale, Nathan Cleverly, and in more recent years Gavin Rees and Lee Selby, all being world champions. So me being alongside those kinds of names in the world champions bracket is massive for me.

“I just think it’s going to be a very, very good fight while it lasts,” said Liam about his match this Saturday against Andrade. “He’s going to come out picking and poking and fiddle his way through.

“It’s going to be a very challenging fight for the first couple while he’s in there. Then I’m going to get on top and break him down and stop him.

“Anytime after six or seven rounds, I fully believe I can stop him,” said Liam Williams.

You wouldn’t expect Andrade to compliment his opponent Williams openly, so it’s not a big deal that he’s not making him out to be a threat.

Also, the U.S boxing fans are down on this fight, viewing it as a mismatch in Andrade’s favor. It wouldn’t be a good thing for Andrade to start trying to persuade the fans that Williams has a chance because that would be him undermining himself.

Other fights on the Andrade vs. Williams card:

Carlos Gongora vs. Christopher Pearson – super middleweight
Mahammadrasul Majidov vs. Andrey Fedosov – heavyweights
Movladdin Biyarslanov vs. Israel Mercado – super featherweights
Otha Jones III vs. Jorge David Casteneda – lightweights
Aaron Aponte vs. Javier Martinez – light welterweights