American champion Demetrius Andrade and British challenger Liam Williams went head to head at the final press conference on Thursday, April 16.
Global Boxing News asked all the important questions ahead of Saturday night's showdown in Florida.
Demetrius Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs)
defending his WBO World Middleweight Title against Liam Williams
What do you expect your fourth challenger to bring to the ring on fight night?
DA: “I don’t know until I get in there with Williams. They all say they’re going to do something to me, knock me out, beat me up, snatch my belt, they’ve all got a plan until they get hit and then it’s a different story.
“It’s all good, it’s part of the hype, it’s part of their job to do what they need to do to get in their mind but at the end of the day I end up getting mind control over them anyway and we do what we do and get the W.”
How excited are you to be fighting for the first time in over a year?
DA: “I’m very excited, it’s been since January last year since I last put my hands on somebody. We got the knockout against Luke Keeler who was supposed to come and take what rightfully mine. Same thing going on here, I’m back in action in Miami, this is my second home.”
What sort of a fight are you expecting with the aggressive Williams, known as 'The Machine'?
DA: “It’s going to be a great showing, I’m ready, I’m going to turn up. If Williams is going to bring the fight that's we all want to see, then I’m all for it. There’s nothing wrong with it, I’m here, I signed and I’m here to show the people what they want to see.
“Nobody is going to know until the bell rings at the end of the day. I don’t sit here and say that Williams is or isn’t going to bring the fight. Once we get in there and if he does then we’ll see, if he doesn’t then he doesn’t. We all know I’m going to bring the fight.”
What do you believe seperates you from the five challengers that have tried and failed to dethrone you?
DA: “At the end of the day I train hard and smarter every single day, I’ve been doing this a very long time. I’ve fought all of them already, there’s nothing new I’ve seen from Williams. Okay he’s tough and bringing it forward, alright well at the end of the day I’m going to have the answers for whatever he brings forward.
“I’m going to be glad to sit back and watch the beautiful boxing match that I put on after I’ve beat him. I’ll watch and say hey you’ve done a great job, banging, a guy that came to fight.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing, schooling people, I’m an educator.”
Paul Andrade
father and trainer of Demetrius Andrade
How tough do you believe Williams will be compared to title defences in the past?
PA: “Every fight is a tough fight; nobody goes in there to lose. He’s going to try and put a lot of pressure on us, but we’ve been there and done that, I only feel like he’s a one-dimensional fighter.
“All he can do is come forward, we’ll do everything we have to do, he’s not going to be to put the pressure on. I don’t think he has the footwork to keep up with Demetrius.”
At 33, have we seen the best of Demetrius or do you believe there's more to come?
PA: “I don’t think anybody has seen Demetrius’ best fight yet, no one has brought it out of him. Boo Boo has it in him to perform even at a higher level, but somebody’s got to bring it out of him. If he’s the one, congratulations, bring it out of him because we’ll give it right back to you.”
What are your predictions for fight night?
DA: “We know we’re going to win; we’ve been winning, and we don’t know how to lose. We’re going to have a good fight come Saturday and we’re going to keep our belt.”
Liam Williams (23-20-1, 18 KOs)
mandatory challenger for WBO World Middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade
How pleased are you to finally get your world title shot you have waited so long for?
LW: “It is a massive opportunity for me, and I really can’t wait to get my chance on Saturday night to prove I’m the best at 160lbs. I’m very excited and can’t wait to get my hands on him this Saturday.”
There's been a few war of words building up to this fight, is there genuine needle between the two of you?
LW: “Not to get it twisted, I do respect him, he’s a great fighter and obviously three-time world champion in two different weight divisions, what’s not to respect? I’d be a bit of a fool to not think he’s any good wouldn’t I, but I see things, weaknesses that I can exploit, I’m fully confident I’m going to do that Saturday night and not just going to win but win in devastating fashion.”
What are your predictions for fight night?
LW: “I don’t plan on going in there and winning on points. If it goes 12, then happy days, I still plan on winning, I’m going in there crash, bang, wallop and looking to take him out, simple as that.”
What will a win do for your career?
LW: “If I win this, I’ll be massive star in Wales and in Britain. I’m just very excited, it’s a big opportunity and for me to win this it’s going to be life changing for me.”
Dominic Ingle
trainer of Liam Williams
Dom, you've been around boxing for a long time, how does this fight rank amongst all of those you've been involved in?
DI: “It’s a great fight, Demetrius is a good fighter, we’re not underestimating him, he’s very skilful and tricky. He’s a quality fighter.
“Look he’s [Andrade] 33 years old, Liam’s 28, he’s bringing youth and aggression and on Saturday night we’re expecting a good fight. Demetrius is calm and collected, a very cool customer and relaxed under the lights, very experienced, but this is Liam’s biggest opportunity and he’s not going to waste it.”
Liam has already promised to bring aggression and pressure, how do you expect Demetrius to handle that?
DI: “Demetrius is used to the pressure, that’s what southpaws like, the pressure coming and walking onto the shots. It’s got to be calculated pressure, Liam can box, and he’s shown that – he likes to have a tear up and that’s sometimes his worst attribute.”
“We’ve got a plan on Saturday night; he can fight when he needs to fight, and he can box when he needs to box. We’ve studied Demetrius, he’s a good fighter and calculated in what he does. Like I said, we’re not underestimating him.”
Francis Warren
Queensberry Promotions, promoter of Liam Williams
How confident are you that Williams will be crowned Wales' 13th world champion in history on Saturday night?
FW: “I’m very confident about it. For me, Liam Williams is world class, this is a huge opportunity for him to prove that. He’s had a world title fight before against Liam Smith in 2017, had the rematch and didn’t go his way.”
“Since then, he went away, re-evaluated what weight he was going to campaign at, and middleweight was the decision. Since then, he’s gone on a hot streak, seven knockout wins and he’s gone from strength to strength with a brilliant performance against Atlantis Fox. I know him and Demetrius share that opponent and, on paper, Liam did a better job.”
“I fancy Liam to be the new WBO champion on Saturday night and it’s going to be a fun plane ride back to Heathrow.”
Can you put your finger on exactly what it is that Liam has that will earn him the win?
FW: “If you want to talk about raw aggression, raw talent, Liam’s got it all. This guy’s not been brought up to talk the talk, he’s going to walk the walk, fight the fight and I really hope Demetrius has brought his A-game because with all due respect this guy is on a different level. I’m thrilled he’s got the opportunity to show what he can do.”
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