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FOR THE past eight months, Clydach’s Liam Williams has watched the promise of dream opportunities shrink into a nightmare that threatened to never end.
After Chris Eubank Jr. botched a hometown spell in early 2022, the only action Williams enjoyed was a sickening thrashing of Nizar Trimech, his re-confidenced opponent, later in the year. The 31-year-old has been on the sidelines ever since and endured an extended period of inactivity as he sought to regain control of his career.
“There’s no ifs or buts about it,” the Welshman opened with his usual frankness, about to assess how much time he has left to score to collect, “I think I’m probably four years tops.”
Having come to light at the end of the tunnel a few weeks ago, Williams has once again confirmed his position as a promotional free agent.
“I need to put in a lot of effort and hopefully get another chance to fight for a world title. The idea is obviously to win a world title, but I have to get there first before I think about that.”
The former British champion is preparing to make another charge to the top. Williams is determined that a points loss to then-sanctioning body belt holder Demetrius Andrade in 2021 will not be his last tilt for world honours. He also believes the final phase of an eventful career will likely be spent at middleweight, where he started 12 years ago.
“Even since my first fight at middleweight, it has never been easy. [making weight]But for now I see myself there in the future. It depends. Let’s see how things progress and I’ll make decisions as each fight comes along.”
Williams knows better than to plan too far in advance. That’s a lesson he’s learned lately.
Having signed a promotional deal with Probellum in February 2022, Williams was assured that the new team had the plans and the power to become a serious global force. It certainly seemed like they were committed to making a seismic impact when they signed stars like Nonito Donaire and Regis Prograis with promoter Richard Schaefer at the helm. How seismic? For now, more axis than turn.
The troubles began when Probellum became inevitably linked to Daniel Kinahan, the alleged front man for a global organized crime empire reportedly worth $1 billion. Along with world title challenger Matthew Macklin, the Irishman was an original co-founder of MTK Global but was supposed to have pulled out in 2017, a year before Williams joined the management company, amid increasing scrutiny. greatest of its checkered record. Kinahan was said to have moved into a new role as independent adviser to some of the biggest names. The most notable client of his was Tyson Fury, a world champion managed by MTK.
Boxing’s top decision makers had not only turned a blind eye to Kinahan’s influence, they had welcomed the suspected narco-terrorist with open arms. Many of the sport’s most established promoters voluntarily worked with Kinahan-related entities for years after the allegations of his criminality. A deadly feud that traumatized Irish communities was not a deterrent enough to stay away, even when a Kinahan ally was shot dead at an infamous boxing weigh-in in 2016.
Kinahan’s new friends in boxing forged profitable alliances in broad daylight as well as in the shadows, but that all changed at a press conference in April 2022. The truth was taboo, until it wasn’t. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was in Kinahan’s hometown of Dublin to brief the media on the sanctions issued to his Organized Crime Group (KOCG). The headline grabber was a collective $15 million bounty for its leaders. From there, MTK Global quickly went out of business and Probellum’s days were numbered.
As a chain result, any expectations of big paydays would not materialize for Williams while he was committed to Probellum, whose influence dwindled in the laundering overnight. All attempts at revisionist history failed them and they staged their last event in December 2022. Williams fought in a Wasserman promotion the previous month, and would walk away without even performing under the Probellum banner.
As authorities in Europe and the United States continued to actively seek Kinahan’s arrest in the Middle East, Probellum was officially sold to a group led by a Dubai-based businessman named Nicolas Link. He has no known boxing experience and is a far cry from Schaefer’s status in the sport. Few were fooled by a rebrand to Disrupt Promotions in early 2023. Link stressed that he has no connection to Kinahan, despite living in the same city for years. Disrupt Promotions has still only hosted a handful of events in dark venues, none of which featured Williams.
“A lot has happened,” Williams said. Like many in boxing, he is wary of commenting on the general background. He has felt some of the aftershocks from him more than most.
“It’s been a nightmare, to be honest with you. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but obviously I was with Probellum. Then they changed, or did what they did, and became a Disrupt. It just wasn’t working for me and it wasn’t right. I wanted to get out of the contract and obviously it wasn’t easy for me so it took me a while to finally get to the bottom of it.
“I was with Frank Warren [until 2021] and I wasn’t totally unhappy there, but these other people sold me the dream and I thought, ‘damn, this is something I can’t turn down, I have to go [because] They are going to pay me a lot of money and give me great opportunities.’ To be honest, it backfired on me to make that move. Looking back, I screwed up.
“It’s one of those, there are two sides. I thought, ‘what the hell have I done there? I really made a bad decision,’ but also on the other hand, in making that bad decision, I have to accept it for what it is. No one put a gun to my head and made me do it. I did it and hopefully I can turn things around and get better again.”
Is Williams the only fighter caught in such a conflict? Super featherweight Rocky Hernandez revealed more on his complaints about Disrupt Promotions and his proposed solutions. After going public, the Mexican boxer was quickly signed by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. However, the details of Williams’ resolution to part ways with Disrupt Promotions will remain confidential for now.
As the father-of-two navigated the legal route out of the ring, he also used the gym as a release. Not about to collect dust on the shelf, the self-proclaimed ‘Machine’ has trained hard all year. It was the outlet he needed to stop his frustration. A recent revival of his relationship with trainer Gary Lockett served as an invaluable source of support as his split from Disrupt Promotions progressed.
The couple had already been through a lot in their first stint together from 2011 to 2018. No time was more difficult than 2016 when gym partner Nick Blackwell suffered a brain injury against Chris Eubank Jnr and when Mike Towell lost his life after a defeat. by knockout against Dale Evans. Williams and Lockett stood shoulder to shoulder in the corner both times, likely bringing perspective to the boxer’s promotional woes.
“As I said last year, I never felt like I was gone. We have grown and again, we have remained close as friends. We’re closer in that sense because the whole time I’ve been going through this shit, we’ve been through all the stages together. Things like that make you closer.”
Gary Lockett (Mark Robinson/Getty Images)
The next chapter starts soon. An aggressive up-and-comer has already set his sights on Williams’ scalp. Irishman Aaron McKenna (17-0, 8KO) is greener than those who have previously beaten Williams, but has a chance to repeat the victories of Liam Smith, Demetrius Andrade and Chris Eubank Jnr.
Without hiding his intention on Sky Sports or social networks, McKenna’s calls have been answered. Negotiations are ongoing and Williams wants the showdown in October. His exchanges echo Williams’ tasty encounters with Mark Heffron and Gary Corcoran (both knockout wins) and the words have gotten his juices flowing.
“It’s good for me not to go chasing,” said Williams, who is no stranger to trash talk. “He wants to fight me. I think there are probably bigger fights out there for me, but we can start with him. I will make an example of it. I fully believe that I will crush it and stop it.
“There are other people I could get a good name from, who aren’t as tough or not as good as me. I think he’s trying to make a big statement by saying he loves me and this and that. He’s obviously young, fresh and fit. You know, he has a lot going for him, but I personally don’t see what the people around him see.”
Williams’ strengths are obvious, and after 29 professional fights, perhaps his weaknesses are too. However, all of the opponents he has lost to were global at the time they traded blows, while McKenna has yet to experience a truly competitive matchup as a professional. Practical as ever, Williams was clear in his assessment of the task before him.
“He is very fit, has a very high work rate and exerts pressure. I don’t think he fights better at long range, well he can’t and never chooses to fight long range when he’s a big guy.
“He charges up with every shot like he’s going to knock everyone out when he hits them, but he doesn’t do that. I think he doesn’t hit that hard. He has good and bad things, and we will know when the fight comes.
If it’s a career awakening for Williams, he plans to start it off on the perfect footing; hitting the snooze button on another.
“We are both going to meet head-on and go for it. There probably aren’t any more. The end will come with me sleeping it off.”
Liam Williams celebrates (James Chance/Getty Images)
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