Troy Williamson can’t wait to reintroduce himself to boxing fans.
The former British junior middleweight champion will fight Caoimhin Agyarko in Belfast on December 2nd and is dead set on proving that his disappointing decision defeat to Josh Kelly last year was an aberration.
Williamson (20-1-1, 14 KO’s) has been quietly stewing on the defeat for the best part of a year. There is absolutely no shame in losing to a top class rival but Williamson has also had to deal with the knowledge that he didn’t do himself justice.
“It was frustrating. Very frustrating. There were things that I wanted to do that I just couldn’t,” Williamson told BoxingScene.com. “I know I was on the front foot and I forced the fight but if you look at my previous fights, that just wasn’t me in there. Kelly boxed brilliant. I won’t take anything away from him. If I was fully fit and I wasn’t carrying any injuries, then would the outcome have been different? Who knows. What I will say is that I would have given a lot better account of myself.”
This is a real step up for Agyarko (13-0, 7 KO’s) who was initially offered Williamson for the end of September. He decided that he wanted another fight with trainer, Joe McNally, and the chance to fully test out the hand he had repaired earlier this year before agreeing to such an important fight but a compromise was reached and instead of another fight, Agaryko has been given a few extra weeks of preparation time.
“It first got mentioned to me about four or five weeks ago. I jumped at it straight away. It wasn’t even really mentioned to me, I just saw it mentioned by Eddie [Hearn] that he’d like the fight so I jumped at it and tried to push for it,” Williamson said. “If you want it, I’m here. Then I heard he didn’t fancy it so we moved on to other things. I had a few other opponents mentioned then he came back a few weeks later saying he fancied it.
“I haven’t got anything to bring to the table and I’m a hard fight for anybody so nobody’s going to risk fighting me. I’ve just had to stay patient and wait for an opportunity.
“He’s a very good fighter. I don’t think that he’s fought at the level I have but he’s young, he’s hungry and I’m expecting a good, tough fight.”
Williamson’s British title victories over Ted Cheeseman and Mason Cartwright were thrilling spectacles and he has proven himself to be a brutal finisher but future opponents will undoubtedly study the way Kelly was able to tame Williamson and feel that they will be implement more than a few elements of that gameplan.
The 32 year old insists that anybody who turns up with the sole intention of outboxing him is in for a nasty surprise.
“I hope he does try and box me. I hope he looks at the Kelly fight and thinks there’s a blueprint there because he’s gonna have a rude awakening when we get in there. There were a few things wrong in the Kelly fight. I was carrying an injury and couldn’t let my punches go at full force like I usually do. If he tries to get in there and tries to box then he’s gonna find out when the punches are coming solid and fast at him. If he’s looking at the Kelly fight and thinking that’s the way to go, he’s in for a big shock.”