BN: You appeared to have so much left to offer when you beat Maxi Hughes in November 2019. Why have you not fought since?
The plan was to fight in March [2020], and the show got cancelled due to Covid. I was pencilled in [to fight on an MTK bill]. I was then pencilled in to fight Paul Hyland for the British title [at lightweight, in March 2021], and got Covid eight or nine days before [and had to withdraw]. But I kept saying to Graham [Everett, my trainer], โThis is going to be my last fightโ. Iโd prepared well and sparred really well, and had decided I was going to be aggressive and swing and have a bit of a wild one, rather than box and not take any risks.
I said Iโd be ready [to fight again] probably April, May. Iโd 10 or 12 days off โ I didnโt leave the house; I laid on the couch; I was struggling โย then started going out running again, went back to the gym, and was breathing really heavily. โWhatโs happening here? Two weeks ago I was in prime position to fight.โ Another two weeks of training I was still thinking, โIโm way off it here โ this ainโt going to happenโ. It probably didnโt help that half of me knew it was going to be my last fight. I felt, not ashamed, but โAm I just messing people around here?โ The desire werenโt deeply there to want to be the best anymore, and I just felt it was going to be such a long road back. Once Maxi won [after replacing me], I was pretty sure the rematch werenโt going to happen. I didnโt want to fight Maxi for the second time anyway. Graham was really keen for me to win a British title at two weights, but I wasnโt so interested. I genuinely like Maxi โย I stay in contact with him โ believed Iโd beat him again, and thought, โTheyโre talking about moving him on to bigger things โย who am I to stop him?โ Heโll probably laugh and think, โFuck off, Liam, Iโll fill you inโ, but thatโs how I felt. Heโs taking risks, away from home, and deserves every break he gets.
I came into boxing to be a world champion, and the truth of it is I wasnโt good enough. Itโd have been lovely if I was, but I wasnโt, and Iโm a realist โย my defence wasnโt good enough. You had [Devin] Haney, [Jorge] Linares, [Vasyl] Lomachenko, Teofimo [Lopez], and Iโm looking at that landscape thinking, โIโm not good enough to beat these guys โ especially nowโ. At least a few years before Iโd have felt like I would have. I genuinely believed I was going to win [against Gervonta Davis, in 2019]. I had no qualms about it, and that mindset werenโt there anymore. So thatโs how it all came to an end. I gave it my everything, but I werenโt good enough. [Boxing News asks about George Kambosos Jnr as a potential opponent]. I watched him against [Lee] Selby โย Iโd have loved that fight. That sort of style would have suited me as well.
I donโt have many regrets, but one little one is sometimes I was little bit too cautious in my boxing.ย It was all about, โDonโt make a mistakeโ, and if you knew me personally, that couldnโt be further from my character. Iโm up for a gamble; Iโll sky dive or bungee jump; Iโm an adrenaline junky, really, and yet I got in there and boxed a bit rigid, psychologically. But I also did understand, quite early on, that the cost of a loss was huge. I sparred differently to how I boxed a lot of the time, because there werenโt that risk. I looked loose โ I was quite loose and my hands were all over the fucking place โ but I knew I couldnโt take too many risks.
BN: So do you consider yourself retired?
Yeah, definitely. [Pauses] Yeah, I am retired, yeah. I hesitated because it was only a week ago I was saying to Graham, โIf X, Y and Z want to fight then Iโll fightโ. Iโll put it out there, actually โย Iโd like to fight Ricky Burns. That fight was once made and didnโt happen. Heโs a similar age to me. I donโt have this big desire to fight him, but if someone said, โYou can fight Ricky Burnsโ thatโd really get my interest, and Iโd probably start training. If I thought I could give it my all then Iโd go ahead and do it. Itโd be such a good fight โ a few years back we had a 10-round spar, and it was fucking brilliant. I absolutely loved it. He laughed at the end of every round, and I smiled at the end of every round. Ten solid rounds โย it was difficult. He was a world-class fighter. Knocking lumps out of each other. Maybe we wouldnโt be able to do that with little gloves. Itโs a shame we didnโt get it on.
Heโs a really good lad, Ricky, so Iโm probably going to have to retract the comment that I want to fight him, because I donโt really want to fight him, deep down โ I am retired. If it was offered to me tomorrow, three monthsโ time, Iโd take it โย definitely. Iโm not going to go out and push for it, but if it was offeredโฆ If someone started calling me out on TV, all that business, Iโd be there no problem, so I donโt know if I am retired or not. If someone offers me out or calls me out Iโll 100 per cent fight them. Even the elite names I was talking earlier. But I donโt really want to be fighting anyone. I donโt know how that comes across. Iโd be interested in the right fight, but why would the right fight be there for me when I havenโt been in the ring all these years, coming on to nearly 37 [years old]. Itโs done. My careerโs over.
BN: Whatโs replaced boxing in your life?
Iโve got a couple of businesses in Cromer โ some ice-cream shops. Theyโre obviously seasonal. Iโm working for a friend who has his own business โย general labouring. The last few weeks Iโve been in the garden doing me mumโs patio, and flower beds. Keeping busy.
I still go [to Everettโs gym]. I spar [twin brother] Ryan every now and again โย heโs still pushing hard and trying to get fights. Iโm up in the morning running, at 6am. My lad Lenny, whoโs 11, has had his first amateur fight. Heโs dead keen, and really dedicated, which is definitely not my doing. Iโd like him to box some amateur fights, no doubt. [But] I canโt say he shouldnโt be a professional. Iโve got three boys [and one girl] โย one of them I know for a fact isnโt going to box. Iโm content, and more than happy. The glass is half-full. Life could be so much harder, and is for a lot of people.
I wish I was [financially secure from boxing]. If I was, Iโd 100 per cent still be involved โย probably in an amateur club. Iโd give full commitment to an amateur club, and probably be involved on the pro side at some point with Graham. I always had intentions of staying within boxing. But Iโve got to earn money โย it doesnโt allow me to do it. It seems selfish, and I sometimes hate it and think, โLiam, be better than thisโ, because there was volunteers and amateur coaches who helped me. I wouldnโt have got the opportunities I got without people doing it for nothing โ or without Graham and also [the Tenerife-based] Manuel Povedano. At some point I definitely will give back. I donโt miss a show โย I watch every show. I even stupidly stayed up and watched that Jake Paul thing [the fight with Tommy Fury], and I was fuming at myself. I even watched the interviews after. If Iโm not in, I make sure I record it and watch it โย I love boxing.
BN: How do you reflect on your one defeat, by Gervonta Davis?
I wouldnโt change it. People always say, โDo you regret doing that fight?โ, and I always say, โDo I heck? I got an opportunity to fight the bestโ. Iโm more than grateful for that.ย The reality is I was never, ever going to beat him. At some point he was going to chin me. I had good feet, but I didnโt have a good defence โย a knack of riding and catching shots. Some fighters are slipping, and theyโre hitting their shoulders and getting their covers in โย I was pulling away, and my body type, Iโm long and thin, isnโt designed to be getting clipped pulling away.
I was massively humbled [by my support, walking to the ring], and that stunned me. But [typically] I always had in me mind I was the underdog โย thatโs how I felt. โIโll show โem.โ But the night of the Gervonta fight, [exhales], โIs this really happening to me?โ It was a feeling Iโve never fucking had. I was tingling. It felt like every single person in there wanted me to win. Afterwards I felt so gutted. โIโve let those people down.โ
Iโd rather have got knocked clean out. Iโd have felt better. Iโm over it. [But] I had these mad thoughts of stinking the place out for three or four rounds, and then switching it all around and being aggressive, sticking it to him, hitting him with body shots, push him back, pull his head down, hit him low and seeing what he were like down the stretch. โHeโs a young kid; get him frustrated early where heโs swinging and getting annoyedโ,ย and he was going that way a little bit, because he was trying to goad me: โYouโre an amateurโ. In hindsight, Iโd have tried switching it and heโd have punched the fuck out of me. But Iโd rather that โย the way it ended didnโt sit right with me for years. My legs were definitely gone โ I was swaying around like fuck โย but as a fighter, โJust let me get knocked outโ. If a fighterโs got one per cent chance, he feels like heโs got a chance. Iโd discussed [those tactics] with Graham but I was very strong-willed and strong-minded. Iโd watched a lot of him โย I got it wrong, no one else.
Ideally Iโd have fought three or four world-level opponents, or ex-world champions [before fighting Davis]. I got offered a European title fight, with Guillaume Frenois, and the IBF come back with, โIf you take any other fight youโll be stripped of your rankingโ, so that scuppered that.
I got a message off Frank [Warren, then my promoter] the next morning, saying, โDonโt worry, Liam, youโve done what you can โ weโll rebuild you, weโll get you another world title shotโ, and I felt wholeheartedly that I still had a lot to offer. I [later] got offered not a lot of money to fight Craig Evans, and I was fuming about it. Maybe I thought my value was better than it was. I think Frankโs the best promoter of the lot, so I havenโt got no hang-ups. In a business sense โย hindsightโs 20-20 โย that would have been the better move [to take the Evans fight anyway. But] Iโm still happy I didnโt, because I can put me head on me pillow and be content that I didnโt get took for a complete fool. Business-wise, it was definitely the wrong decision, but I done the right thing.
BN: What makes Davis so good?
He had elite speed, which Iโd never seen. I didnโt feel one of his punches, โcause they were so crisp and so sharp โ and they were in the right areas โ that the first one that properly connected buzzed me, then he hit me two or three times around the ear and back of the head. Iโm not complaining, Iโd have done it if Iโd got him in that position. He then rushed at me, punches are scuffing around me, and [the referee] Michael Alexander made probably the correct decision. I was probably going to get absolutely hammered.
His awareness was elite as well. He was looking at me and his eyes were pinged up, like a cat getting their prey. His concentration was immense. If Iโd farted he would have flinched to catch something โ he was that on it. His focus โ he hadnโt, but it was like he took something to enhance it. It werenโt like looking at a human.
I believe heโs got a lot better [boxing] IQ than heโs given credit for. It never gets mentioned because itโs always about the knockouts and the speed. Thereโs a lot going on in there โ the small movements. His timing, and positioning โ he knows when to hit the body, when to step and when not to. Heโs good at the psychological battle as well.
He extends his front foot, and puts you under pressure with his feet โ he ainโt got long arms and ainโt putting you on the end of a jab โcause he donโt really throw a jab, which is half the reason I went southpaw with him. Heโs left-hand happy, โcause he knows he only needs to land that fucker once.
He beats Ryan Garcia. Itโs a brilliant fight โย props to both. Iโm glad theyโre going for it now, โcause they could string it out. Garcia will win rounds and give him a lot of problems but he stands a little bit too tall, and he pulls a lot and his chinโs up there to be hit, and [Davis will] nail him. Tank wonโt run at him wildly โ [Garciaโs] way too good to steam into. [Garciaโs] left hookโs his money punch, which against a southpaw sounds like heโs on to a winner, but I donโt think Tankโs there to be hit with it โย [Davis] judges distance so well. Thereโll be a cagey start, and a boxing match, and Tank will nail him mid-to-late. If Garcia gets greedy and leans over his front foot, heโll just get took out. I donโt see Garcia being as disciplined as Tank. He wants to impress and be in a good fight.
I hope [Davis] goes on to prove heโs elite and keeps his life on track and doesnโt spiral out of control. Heโs come from nothing and seen a lot of shit in his life and you canโt be anything but happy for him. He could be a special fighter.
BN: What was the highlight of your career?
Iโve got a couple. The [Paul] Appleby fight was one of them, because I showed some balls, got off the floor, and I look back now and at the end Iโm shouting, โI can fightโ, and itโs like I had to prove that to people. Did I doubt myself or think that people doubted me? I donโt really know. That was the only real tough fight I had โ obviously Gervonta stopped me quick, but I didnโt have a mark on me, bar a big lump behind my ear.
Me pro debut [against Daniel Thorpe in 2008] was good, โcause it was me and me two brothers [Ryan and Michael], and it felt big. We were all mad. โFucking hell, have we managed this? Boxing for Frank Warrenโฆโ Weโd come from scratch.
My only little claim to fame is I dropped [Andrey Klimov] a man [Terence] Crawford didnโt. But thatโs about all Iโve got from me career now. Thatโs me only bar story. Iโll have to sail away with that one. It werenโt a big knockdown; maybe it caught him off-guard.
Interview: Declan Warrington