Former light middleweight title challenger Liam Williams is considering his future after a loss to Hamzah Sheeraz.
The two fought at middleweight earlier this month and going into the fight, Williams was certain that Sheeraz’s team had made a mistake in pairing him up with the youngster.
However, Sheeraz was dominant from the off and Williams was knocked down twice before his corner decided he had suffered enough against the younger man.
Williams is only 31 but now has three defeats in his last five fights, and BoxingScene.com reported he was considering stepping away from the sport.
“He obviously caught me a little bit cold, but no excuses really,” Williams said.
“I went into the fight; I trained my butt off. I was ready – I thought I was fully ready. I didn’t struggle too much with the weight. I’ve been worse in the past, but obviously I’m 31 now – maybe that’s just harder to recover from. My age itself, I’m not old, but I’m getting there in terms of boxing. I’ve had a few tough fights.”
Williams praised Sheeraz for his performance from a couple of weeks ago.
“He's unbelievable,” said Williams.
“He’s very, very good and I’ve said to him and other people since that I think he’s going to do really well. You see people saying things too easily these days, like, ‘He’s definitely going to be a world champion’, but in all honesty I see him becoming a world champion, with the right path and a little bit of luck along the way.
“He’s a very nice guy. He had full respect for me afterwards – fair play to him. He said how much he looked up to me in the past and how much he liked to watch me fight and he’d like to buy me a drink after, and yeah, we caught up after. We had a little brief chat and his family brought over a big bag of food, pizzas, and they were just really nice, generous people.”
He continued: “I love training, I love everything but when it comes to putting your heart and soul into these camps, making weight and really taking yourself away from things, I’m not saying one bad loss and you throw the towel in.
“I was fine in sparring, but it’s different with a head guard and 16oz gloves on.
“I’m taking some time away to think about what I really want next. I’m 31 now and I’ve boxed since I was nine-years-old. I’ve boxed for 22 years. It’s like I don’t know anything else and it’s only been 10 days or so… And to be honest, I’m pulling my hair out. I don’t know what to do with myself already!
“I’m not going to be sucked back in for money and whatever else, because my health is more important.”
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