Liam Williams will finally get his chance to become a champion after a deal was agreed for him to challenge WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade. Purse bids were set to be held for the mandatory challenge on Wednesday, but a deal was reached between the two fighters prior to the bids taking place. [Both men are in the top eleven in Boxingtalk's middleweight rankings]. News on a date and location for the fight between Williams and Andrade will be announced in due course. Williams (23-2-1, 18 KOs) has been in top form since moving up to middleweight, with all five of his fights in that division ending in knockout wins. 

 

Williams won the British middleweight title with a stoppage win over Mark Heffron, before following that up with two successful defences, knocking out Joe Mullender and Andrew Robinson. Williams has also made an impact on the international stage during that time, knocking out Karim Achour and Alantez Fox in 2019, with both of those men never being stopped before facing the Welshman.

 

Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) won the belt after it was vacated back in 2018, defeating Walter Kautondowka to become champion. Since then, he has made three successful defenses, beating Artur Akavov, Marciej Sulecki, and Luke Keeler.