Troy Williamson has turned the course of his career around with big 2025 wins over Mark Dickinson and Callum Simpson.
The 34-year-old from Darlington faces Simpson on August 8 back at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, where he won their first bout back in December, stopping the previously undefeated Simpson in 10 rounds.
Williamson is 22-4-1 (16 KOs) and has boxed the likes of Jahi Tucker, Ishmael Davis, Caoimhin Agyarko, Ted Cheeseman and Harry Scarff.
Now at super-middleweight, he has talked about his struggle with the scales and has found his best form since moving up.
But one man stands out as the best he’s faced so far, and that is Josh Kelly.
They boxed at junior middleweight in 2023 and Kelly won a wide decision. Kelly went on to win the IBF title and defends it against Agyarko in Saudi Arabia next week.
“You’ve probably got to say, stylistically, Josh Kelly was probably my toughest test to date,” said Ten Percent Club athlete Williamson.
There seemed to be bad blood between the two fighters ahead of their bout, but Williamson said it was for the cameras.
“We were pals when we fought. It’s just a business at the end of the day,” he said.
“We had to build the fight and we had to talk shit to get the fight going, and that’s what we did.”
Does he get on equally well with Simpson?
“No, we’re not pals, but we never have been pals,” Williamson said. “We have spoken on social media before the fight, and yeah, we’re definitely not pals.”
And Williamson is confident another win over the 18-1 (13 KOs) Simpson will take him where he wants to go in his career.
“I’ve always said my dream is to become a world champion. I’d love to become a world champion,” he said. “I will become a world champion by the end of this year. But at the end of the day, I’m 34 now, I’ve got a young family at home, so whatever pays me the most money [is what I want].”
