Boxing icon Joe Calzaghe believes his fellow Welshman Liam Williams can pull off the upset when he goes into world-title battle against Demetrius Andrade on Saturday night.
Calzaghe took the fight game in Wales to incredible heights en route to a perfect 46-0 professional career and a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.
And Joe would love nothing better than to see the 28-year-old Williams (23-2-1) follow in his footsteps by becoming WBO world middleweight champion in Florida this weekend (live on DAZN worldwide).
Andrade the favourite
The unbeaten Andrade (25-0) is currently trading as a 1/3 favourite with Sky Bet, while Liam is a 9/4 outsider. But Calzaghe says Williams has what it takes to be a real threat to ‘Boo Boo’.
He said: “It’s not going to be an easy night, but he’ll know that. Demetrius is a slippery customer with bags of skill, but I think Liam needs to get in there, get close to him, unsettle him, make him work and not give him one second’s rest.
“If he does that, I think he could take the belt on points and even force a late stoppage. It’ll be a hard night’s work, but he’s got the tools to get it done and I’d love to see him bring the belt back to Wales.”
The hopes of a nation
Victory would make Williams only the 13th ever world champion to hail from Wales, and Calzaghe says he has the backing of a nation behind him.
“I would be thrilled to see Liam become World champion. He’s earned his spot at the table and now he just has to go out there and deliver. Everyone in Wales is behind him.”
Also on Saturday’s card, Carlos Gongora (19-0 14 KOs) defends his IBO world super-middleweight title against Christopher Pearson (17-2 12 KOs).
Meanwhile heavyweight Mahammadrasul Majidov (3-0 3 KOs) is back in action and looking for a fourth straight KO win against Andrey Fedosov (31-3 25 KOs),
