Liam Williams eyes world title shot ahead of British middleweight championship defence

Liam Williams defends his British middleweight championship against mandatory challenger Andrew Robinson on Saturday at BT Sport studios in Stratford, with the Clydach Vale hard man conscious that a world title opportunity against WBO champion Demetrius Andrade awaits in early 2021 should he leave the ring victorious.

This week, Williams also called out other names such as Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, as he ends a 10-month absence from the ring: “There’s so many good fights in and around my weight that I would be prepared to step down a couple of pounds or step up a couple of pounds. I just want to make big fights. I want to be in involved with the best.”

Williams (record 22 wins, two defeats, one draw), who has 17 knockouts in his victories, played down the fact that the red mist often descends when he fights.

“It’s not fair to say I’m the angriest man in boxing, but when I’m in the ring I have that nastiness about me and a short fuse. Day to day, I am a steady-living guy. It doesn’t matter what anybody says or does, I always bring excitement and fire on all cylinders.

“I'm prepared to talk about fights with Andrade and the likes of Chris Eubank, for example, but my focus is Andrew Robinson. I'm really not looking past him. But the referee will have to keep an eye on him because I am coming with bad intentions. I am going to be on the ball and the referee needs to be on the ball because someone could be getting hurt. I will take Robinson’s heart, then come back, take his gold teeth and weigh them in to get a nice little bonus.”

As for the potential world title challenge next year, he added: “Andrade is full of s--- and keeps saying he is ‘The Boogeyman’, but I am actually chasing the fight with him. I don’t care if he fights me or vacates, as long as I get that world title. I think he will vacate and I will fight someone like Jaime Munguia, which has blood and guts written all over it.”

Robinson is not known as a huge puncher and has lost four of his 29 contests. He explained: “I am living my dream and don’t get involved in talk about being overlooked. I’ve always been a fan of Liam Williams. It’s like a dream come true to be fighting one of the best middleweights in the world. I will fight anybody and I’m ecstatic to be the ring with the number one fighter in the WBO ratings. If I win, I get to fight for a world title so I’m buzzing. I went to Poland and beat Damian Jonak who hadn’t lost in 13 years. God was with me that night and hopefully he is on Saturday.”

Williams to force a stoppage in the late rounds.