- Williams finished his professional career with a record of 25 wins and five losses
- The Welshman was interrupted in the first round by Hamzah Sheeraz in February
- Williams admitted he won’t face Chris Eubank Jr. in 2022. should have fought
Liam Williams has announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 32, with the Welsh star revealing his concerns after suffering ‘several concussions’.
Williams won British, European and Commonwealth titles during his career and challenged for world titles at both middleweight and super welterweight.
His last professional fight came in February when he was stopped by Hamzah Sheeraz in the first round of their middleweight fight at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The result gave Williams a professional record of 25 wins, five defeats and one draw, with 20 of his victories coming via knockout.
Williams told the BBC he realized after the fight that he had “taken too much” and was concerned about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Welsh boxing star Liam Williams has announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 32
Williams suffered a first-round loss to Hamzah Sheeraz in his last fight in February
He admitted that concerns about concussions led to the decision to end his boxing career
The degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head.
Over time, these hits result in the buildup of tau protein around the brain, which can lead to confusion, depression and eventually dementia.
Williams has revealed that he suffered three or four concussions over an 18-month period.
He had bounced back from losing back-to-back fights against Liam Smith in 2017 by winning his next seven bouts, leading to a WBO middleweight title showdown with Demetrius Andrade in April 2021.
Williams said he suffered a concussion from an elbow during his unanimous decision loss to Andrade, before suffering another during a sparring session before facing Chris Eubank Jr. in February 2022. stood.
The 32-year-old admitted he ignored medical advice to enter the ring against Eubank, who defeated him by unanimous decision.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but a doctor told me not to fight Eubank because I had another concussion,” Williams told the BBC.
‘I had a concussion from an elbow during the fight with Andrade. During sparring I probably knew not to box Eubank, but there was a lot of money on the table.
‘The fight took place in Cardiff and I had sold a lot of tickets. I sold £200,000 worth of tickets from my house, it was insane.
Williams admitted he ignored medical advice to fight Chris Eubank Jr. in 2022. to fight
The boxer said he had ‘no punch resistance’ and should have listened to advice not to fight
‘I didn’t want to disappoint people, so I didn’t say anything.
‘I had no resistance against Eubank. Obviously I should have listened to the no fighting.”
However, there is no evidence that Williams has failed a medical test with the British Boxing Board of Control.
Williams had previously trained with Nick Blackwell, who was in an induced coma for nine days after suffering a brain haemorrhage during a 2016 defeat to Eubank Jnr.
Six months later he was in his friend Dale Evans’ corner when he defeated undefeated welterweight Mike Towell. Towell was hospitalized after the fight and died from his injuries the next day.
Williams acknowledged that he recently messaged his manager to argue with him, before withdrawing that request the next day after stating it was the “right decision to retire.”