LONDON – George Liddard has welcomed a defense against a domestic rival after securing the British middleweight title at London’s York Hall.
Liddard won the famous Lonsdale belt with a 10th-round stoppage of Kieron Conway on Saturday. Many thought it was too soon for the 23-year- old, but Liddard was dominant throughout and became the first man to stop Conway.
“I knew I had the capability to make it easy,” Liddard told BoxingScene of his performance. “I knew it could be two fights. It was either going to be a clinical night, or it was one of those nights where I was going to have to dig deep and go to the trenches. I think I made a lot easier work of it than people thought it was going to be.”
Former British middleweight titleholder Brad Pauls was in attendance and was quick to offer his hand to Liddard on social media to face him in his first defense.
“Listen, I'm never hunted. I'm hunting all of these guys,” said Liddard in response. “I don't care about none of these guys. I'll fight any man. It doesn't bother me who. Anyone. Come bring it.”
Following Liddard’s win, promoter Eddie Hearn was quick to say that his man would not be fighting at British level for long, and would be pressing on to bigger and better things. Liddard was asked for his thoughts on pushing for a shot at the European title.
“Of course we're looking at it,” he replied. “Like I said, I'm 23, you know? Everyone was saying how experienced Conway was. Maybe it's my time to get a little bit of experience. Maybe we stick around here for a couple of fights. But, listen, I'm a man that, he who dares, wins. I see these opportunities, and if the right opportunity comes knocking, I'm not going to turn it down.”
The middleweight division doesn’t have the depth at present that it did in years gone by. There are few leading names behind titlists Janibek Alimkhanuly, Carlos Adames and Erislandy Lara.
“I feel like there's a lot of gaps in the middleweight division right now,” said Liddard. “Don't get me wrong, the champions we've got are good fighters, but there's gaps, and if anyone can squeeze through them, it's me. I love an opportunity. So whatever comes knocking, I don't think I'm far. Listen, I want to get a bit of experience before we challenge, maybe for those big, big titles. But I want to start working my way up the world rankings, and there's only one way to do that.”
