Boxing: Welshman Liam Williams retires after ‘several concussions’

Williams does not need reminding of the dangers of boxing, he’s lived the tragedy the sport can bring.

He was a stablemate of Nick Blackwell when he suffered a bleed on the brain in defeat by Eubank Jr in 2016 and spent nine days in an induced coma.

Six months after that, Williams went to support another stablemate, Dale Evans, as he fought local fighter Mike Towell in Glasgow in a fight that saw Towell seriously hurt and hospitalised. Towell died from his injuries the following day.

After several concussions and plenty of gruelling fights, Williams says the threat of further damage to his brain and the threat of CTE means he will not return as a fighter, tempted as he’s been.

“I’ve taken too much, I’ve had a long career, boxing has been all I’ve ever known,” he said.

“Heavy sparring, heavy hits, my resistance to punches is not as good and the risk are just too great, some hits you can’t come back from.”

Williams admits he is finding the adjustment tough after “boxing basically my whole life”, but admits he has had moments of doubt.

“Because of concussions I’ve had to retire,” he said. “It’s the right decision.

“But I did have a blip recently, I watched a fight, I can’t even remember which one and I immediately messaged my manager and said ‘get me a fight’.

“Then I rang him back the next day and told him to forget I’d said anything.”

Williams says he is “enjoying life”, having retired, with nights out with friends and “cheat meals”, now an option to him for the first time since he was a teenager.

With an eye to the future he has built a fitness gym at the back of his house and is currently doing personal training, but while he does not rule out a return to boxing as a trainer, Williams says he is “in no rush” to do so.

“I know I can offer good advice, I talk to my ex-stablemate (undefeated Welsh boxer) Rhys Edwards a lot and I don’t say this in a horrible way, but I know more about boxing than Rhys Edwards does, because of my experience,” he said.

“I like trying to help him. Maybe one day in the future I might want to do some training, but it’s a massive commitment.”

Williams retires with a 25-5-1 record, with 20 of his 25 wins coming via KO or stoppage.

“I would have liked to have won a world title, I was a bit unfortunate I suppose that when my opportunity it came against one of the best world champions (Andrade),” he said.

“I think I proved in my career that I could box at a world level, but I can look back and be proud of what I have done.”