Liam Smith: “It’s Liam Williams’ fault I haven’t got a British title outright!”

Former WBO Super-Welterweight boss Liam Smith has blamed long-term rival Liam Williams for costing him the chance of winning the prestigious Lord Lonsdale belt outright and has vowed to settle the score when they clash at the Manchester Arena on Saturday 8th April, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.

Smith and Williams collide in what promises to be the best domestic dust up of the year, with fight fans across the country labelling it as a true 50/50 contest. However, warrior Smith has questioned if the Boxing Writers’ Best Young Boxer of the Year is ready to step up to World level.

“He was my mandatory challenger for over twelve months and he wouldn’t take the fight,” said Smith. “Fair play to his team, they openly said that he wasn’t ready to face me but it’s Liam Williams’ fault I haven’t got a British title outright. I’ll settle that score when I beat him in April.

“This is a fight that I’m massively confident of winning and it’s one that I’ll happily win and put to bed. I’m a bit curious as to why people are made up for this fight now and why they weren’t at the time I was British Champion but I’m happy to take it and settle the score.”

Watch Liam Smith’s exclusive interview with BoxNation

Smith vs. Williams features on the undercard of Terry Flanagan’s fifth WBO World Lightweight title defence against dangerous Russian Petr Petrov, also on the card double Olympic Gold Medallist Nicola Adams OBE and amateur Heavyweight starlet Daniel Dubois make their highly-anticipated debuts.

Tickets for April 8 are available from eventim at www.eventim.co.uk and 0844 249 1000 and the Manchester Arena at www.manchester-arena.com and 0844 847 8000.