Sheffield fighter Liam Williams misses out on WBO middleweight belt after Demetrius Andrade loss

The Welshman, who trains under Dom Ingle at the Ingle Gym in Wincobank, lost to undefeated WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade in 12 rounds on Saturday night.

The American, 33, started strongly by sending Williams to his knees in the first round and was evasive and powerful with his body shots as he accumulated scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

A left-right combination in the second round put Williams on his back, but he rose again at the nine count and continued on.

Andrade’s right uppercut continued to torment the Briton throughout the bout, with the 28-year-old somewhat dulling its effectiveness by staying close to the champion.

Despite his physical proximity during the middle and late rounds, Williams failed to land any significant blows against the clearly fatigued Andrade.

The champion kept up his lateral movement to evade Williams and continued to repeatedly break the Welshman’s guard with his left hand en route to victory.

“He’s better than I thought to be honest, he’s very slippery,” said Williams after the fight.

"I couldn’t get my shots off, I hurt him a few times I feel but he was gone before I knew it.

“I know I’m tough. When I went down I knew I’d taken his best shot and he couldn’t keep me down.

“I believe Demetrius is probably the best of the champions apart from Canelo. I gave him some stick in the build-up but I have to give him respect. He’s a great fighter.”