If Darlington super-middleweight Troy Williamson was ever afforded the luxury of creating his ideal opponent, chances are that ideal opponent would look a lot like his next one: Callum Simpson.
He would, during the design phase, have the same measurements, the same style, and the same attitude to a fight. He would also come with the same titles – the British, Commonwealth and European super-middleweight belts – and each of those titles Williamson would try to imagine wearing around his own waist come Christmastime.
For that to happen, of course, Williamson, the current English super-middleweight champion, will first have to defeat Simpson, his ideal opponent, when the pair meet at some stage in December. The exact date of that fight, as well as its location, is yet to be revealed, though Williamson claims to know this much. He knows that, one, the fight is almost signed and sealed, and he also knows that this is the fight he wants more than any other.
“I’m waiting for the contract to come through and hopefully we’ll have it all sorted by next week,” Williamson told BoxingScene. “I didn’t really think about this Callum Simpson fight until his manager dropped me a message after my last fight [against Mark Dickinson in September] and said, ‘Congratulations, great win… the Simpson fight is there next if you want it.’ Once it got put to me, I thought I would then chase it up and it’s happening now.”
Part of the reason why Williamson had, until September, never entertained the prospect of fighting Callum Simpson was because Williamson was, until September, fighting in a completely different weight class. Before moving to super-middleweight, you see, Williamson had been accustomed to squeezing his large frame down to middleweight, where, in the space of 12 months, he suffered back-to-back decision losses to Ishmael Davis and Jahi Tucker. Before that, Williamson was somehow even making junior-middleweight, where he lost decisions to Josh Kelly and Caoimhin Agyarko.
“It was very foolish when I look back on it,” he said of his weight-making adventure. “It wasn’t healthy at all. I was having to cut my carbs two weeks before a fight and those last two weeks are the most vital weeks of your training camp. In that period, I wasn’t able to train as much as I wanted, or train as hard as I wanted. I was focused mainly on just losing weight. So, you weren’t seeing the best of me. Really, I should have moved up a long time ago.”
In his last fight, Williamson, now 34, certainly showed improvements as a super-middleweight. His ninth-round stoppage of Mark Dickinson, in fact, saw a return to the Troy Williamson of old: swarming, aggressive, powerful. He didn’t just get back to winning ways that night, he was back to winning a fight the way he ideally wants to win a fight: in style.
“I felt very good,” he said. “I was very confident going into the fight and throughout the whole camp and I knew that all I had to do on the night was execute what I had been doing in the gym. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be victorious. That was the most confident I have been in a long time. I knew what I could do at that weight. I wasn’t drained, I wasn’t killing myself, and I was enjoying training. A lot of people had written me off before that fight, which is understandable, but I knew I still had something to offer.
“If you look at my last couple of performances, when I was draining myself down, I wasn’t carrying that knockout power anymore. But as soon as I moved up to super-middleweight, that changed and the knockout power was back. I came back with a knockout in the ninth round and I showed that I also carry my power late. That power has definitely come up with me and it has maybe been enhanced as well.”
If so, that could spell trouble for Callum Simpson, the man Williamson expects to face in December. For although Simpson, 18-0 (13 KOs), has been almost faultless so far as a pro, he was dropped twice in his last fight, a decision win against Ivan Stucco, and for the first time showed brief signs of fragility. That doesn’t mean Williamson now considers Simpson vulnerable, or there for taking, but he does wonder whether the Barnsley man is ready for the type of fight Williamson has in mind for December.
“He is a good fighter,” said Williamson. “He is a come-forward fighter, very fit, tough, and all-action, just like me. It’s going to make for a very good, fan-friendly fight. He’s a perfect opponent for me. He’s going to be in my face; he’s going to bring the heat.
“But, in my personal opinion, I don’t think he has boxed anybody on my level. I think everybody he has beaten I would beat. The guy [Zucco] who put him down twice in his last fight doesn’t hit anywhere near as hard as me. I know he [Zucco] had some knockouts on his record, but who had he boxed?
“I’m not blowing my own trumpet, but I think I have the edge [over Simpson] in a lot of areas. I think I’m a better in-close fighter. I think I carry more power. He has fast hands, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not exactly slow, either. I also know I’m tough, I’m fit, and I can go into the trenches and come out victorious. I know he’ll be in my face all night, and throwing plenty of punches, but I’ve been there before and I understand what it takes.
“Callum has done what he needs to do to get where he is – British, Commonwealth and European champion – but I don’t think he’s had those same acid tests I have had. He’s beaten some good fighters, don’t get me wrong. He beat Zak Chelli, he beat Ivan Zucco. But the only really tough fight he had was that Zucco one, and I wouldn’t even say it was a particularly tough one. When he’s in there with me, I’ll be putting the pressure on him, and I’m definitely going to give him his hardest fight to date. We’ll then see if he’s able to cope with the pressure.”
Should all go to plan, the meeting of Williamson and Simpson might end up producing a late contender for British “Fight of the Year”. Certainly, on paper at least, the blend of their styles and two similar mindsets is an alluring proposition for those who like their action fought at close range and at a high pace. “I can’t see it being anything else, to be fair,” said Williamson, 21-4-1 (15 KOs). “I think it will be action-packed until I land that knockout power. When I hit him, and have him hurt, I’ll then get him out of there.”
Do that and Troy Williamson will have the perfect result against the perfect opponent and will, in turn, be able to enjoy the perfect one-two-three: British, Commonwealth and European titles. He will also be able to celebrate at the perfect time of the year, around Christmas, and reflect not only on his latest victory but the last couple of the years; years during which Williamson has experienced as many lows as highs and has often questioned whether boxing and all its imperfections is the game for him.
“It was hard, and I went through a dark time, but I know why I lost those three fights,” he said. “I knew it was all down to the weight. I couldn’t come out publicly and say that, because I took the fights. It was on me. That’s why I can’t regret those defeats. I chose to fight. But I was able to understand why I lost those fights and that helped me get out of that dark place and find some positivity again.
“I was close to walking away from boxing at one point, but I always knew there was plenty left and that if I just stepped up to the right weight class I could come again. Now the rest is history. Now I’m waking up a happy man. I’m back enjoying it. I know it’s an old cliché, but it’s true: a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter. I’m now ready to shock the world again.”
Elliot Worsell is a boxing writer whose byline first appeared in Boxing News magazine at the age of 17. He has, in the 20 years since, written for various publications, worked as press officer for two world heavyweight champions and won four first-place BWAA (Boxing Writers Association of America) awards. In addition to his boxing writing, Worsell has written about mixed martial arts for Fighters Only magazine and UFC.com, as well as worked as a publicist for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has also written two non-fiction books, one of which, “Dog Rounds,” was shortlisted at the British Sports Book Awards in 2018.
