Liam Williams announces boxing retirement over health fears after ‘several concussions’ – as Welsh star reveals he fought Chris Eubank Jnr ‘against medical advice’
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 final professional fight came in February when he was stopped by Hamzah Sheeraz in the first round of their middleweight bout at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The result left Williams with a professional record of 25 wins, five defeats and one draw, with 20 of his victories coming via knockout.
Williams told the BBC he realised after the fight he had ‘taken too much’ and revealed his worries about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Welsh boxing star Liam Williams has announced his retirement from the sport aged 32
Williams suffered a first round loss to Hamzah Sheeraz in his final fight back in February
He admitted concerns over concussions have led to the decisions to end his boxing career
The degenerative brain disease that is caused by repeated hits to the head.
Over time, these hits result in the accumulation of tau protein around the brain, which can lead to confusion, depression and eventually dementia.
Williams has revealed he had suffered three or four concussions over an 18-month period.
He had bounced back from losing consecutive fights to Liam Smith in 2017 by winning his next seven contests, leading to a WBO middleweight title showdown with Demetrius Andrade in April 2021.
Williams said he was concussed by an elbow in his unanimous decision defeat by Andrade, before sustaining another in a sparring session before facing Chris Eubank Jnr in February 2022.
The 32-year-old admitted he had ignored medical advice to take to the ring against Eubank, who beat him by unanimous decision.
‘I probably shouldn’t say this, but a doctor told me not to fight Eubank as I had been concussed again,’ Williams told the BBC.
‘I’d had the concussion from an elbow in the Andrade fight, sparring, I probably knew I shouldn’t box Eubank, but there was a lot of money on the table.
‘The fight was in Cardiff and I had sold a lot of tickets. I sold £200,000 worth of tickets from my house, it was crazy.
Williams admitted he ignored medical advice to fight Chris Eubank Jnr back in 2022
The boxer said had ‘no punch resistance’ and should have listened to advice not to fight
‘I didn’t want to let people down, so I didn’t say anything.
‘I had no punch resistance against Eubank. Obviously I should have listened about not fighting.’
There is no suggestion, however, that Williams failed a medical test with the British Boxing Board of Control.
Williams had previously trained with Nick Blackwell, who spent nine days in an induced coma after suffering a bleed on the brain in a 2016 defeat to Eubank Jnr.
He was then in the corner of his friend Dale Evans six months later as he beat unbeaten welterweight Mike Towell. Towell was hospitalised following the fight and died from his injuries the following day.
Williams acknowledged he had messaged his manager recently to get him a fight, before cancelling that request the following day having stated it was the ‘right decision to retire’.
