LIAMS CUT UP ROUGH
No love lost as Williams and Smith clash again
SUPER-WELTERWEIGHT rivals Liam Smith and Liam Williams have never seen eye to eye.
And their animosity towards each other has increased in the build-up to their eagerly-awaited rematch at Newcastle Arena tonight.
Both suffered cut eyes in their first meeting back in April, with British champ Williams retiring at the end of the ninth in controversial circumstances when Smith appeared to open up the gash with his head.
Since then, both fighters have argued fiercely, with Williams insisting that Smith should have been disqualified for a headbutt.
Smith, though, claims the injury wasn’t that serious and Williams could and should have carried on.
Scouser Smith said: “He chose to quit.
“He says he was winning, so why did he pull out with a cut with just nine minutes left? He is saying he wasn’t fading. If so, he would have p **** d the last nine minutes. So why would he let a cut pull him out?
“If you put us in one room, I guarantee I will be the one to come out of that door.
“I would be the last one standing. His quitting on his stool proved that to me.”
Williams is still bitter about the outcome of the interim WBO title bout. He said: “The final butt was deliberate. Heads had been bumping all night and I believe, one million per cent, that Smith should have been disqualified.
“I felt very let down by referee Terry O’Connor, who I feel robbed me of my unbeaten record and the chance to become world champion.”
Smith received plenty of criticism for his performance and says he will give his detractors the perfect answer tonight.
He said: “To those people who slagged me or don’t fancy me because of the first fight, they can’t knock me on one bad performance.
“I know I have a point to prove to the knockers in Newcastle. Believe me, I will show them all and make them all eat their words.” SMITH v Williams 2 will be screened live on BoxNation and BT Sport tonight.