I’LL MAKE MY STATEMENT IN THE RING
Fighter Diary by Liam Williams
With his potentially epic rematch against arch rival Liam Smith now only a matter of days away up in Newcastle, Liam Williams concludes his exclusive Fighter Diary series by reflecting on the aftermath of their first meeting in April and why a verbal ceasefire has not come about just yet…
THE FACT THAT I continued to be respectful after the first fight allowed him to carry on with his digs and he was the same all along.
He is too big headed and too self-centred to give anybody else any credit, but deep down he knows what I was doing.
Smith knows I was bossing the fight and he knows that if the fight had gone on he would have lost it – a very high possibility he would have suffered defeat.
He just carried on talking all the sh*t he talks just to mask what the real outcome of the fight would have been.
Even though he might not admit it, he knows he needs to improve and I am expecting 100 per cent a better version of Liam Smith to turn up this time around.
But you can also bet your bottom dollar that a better version of me will turn up as well. Even at four weeks out I was better prepared than I was a week out last time.
I am in very good condition, sparring rounds with quality fighters and I am flying.
I believe there will be a big statement made on November 11.
Despite all the name calling I will remain respectful, even though he seems to take this as a weakness.
I have always showed Liam Smith respect because I have been to his gym and sparred him a couple of years ago now and I honestly thought he was a nice guy.
He showed me respect, but I think because there was so much talk when I was coming through, with people saying this is the fight to see and that I could be the man to beat him, I think he got the hump about it.
I know he got the hump about it!
That is basically the reason why I have showed him respect. He is a former world champion and what right have I got not to show him respect?
However much I think he has been a real dick, I still hold a certain level of respect for him because I think you’ve got to. That is why he got himself in the position last time where he was getting screwed because he showed a total lack of respect.
That is why I believe, this time, he will turn up a better fighter because he knows now what I am going to bring to the table.
It is only going to make for a good fight.
When we get to fight week and he starts again, which I am sure he will, I am just going to let it all go over my head, as I have done up to now.
He is driving himself mad inside, I know he is, because he is trying to get a reaction that he thinks is easy to get out of me because of my history.
But I am actually quite a chilled guy and the only people I have had a go with are people that I genuinely dislike. Although I want to say I dislike him, there is no genuine bad feeling there on my part, it is just that we are fighting each other and the way he has acted.
Before this we were fine, it is just a bit of a show from him and he is trying to get under my skin.
It is one of those things, I am just keeping myself together and I’ve got a job to do. I want to be the better man, I am a nice person and I don’t want to rub people up the wrong way.
It shows well for me that I’ve got all the support in the world and he has lost all the support he had.
I will keep going about my own business.
What probably would be true to say is that beating Smith will mean more to me than any prize on offer. Obviously I want to be in the frame for the title, but so much has gone on now that I really need to get this win and put this behind me to prove a lot of people wrong.