Williams ready to rock Rob

On Wednesday evening British cruiserweight title challenger Leon Williams completed the final sparring session of his training camp, for next Friday’s highly anticipated showdown with current champ Rob Norton at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Whilst it’s not unusual for other fighters to catch as much of a sparring session as possible, it is rare for a whole gym of top class fighters, that includes the likes of Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders and trainers such as Jimmy Tibbs and Bryan Lawrence to halt their training regimes in order to watch the ensuing battles, which in itself speaks volumes of the intensity and quality of the session.

As the bell rang to bring the final round to a finish, the suffocating air of tension that encompassed the gym was shattered by the sound of thirty or so pairs of hands erupting into enthusiastic applause.

At the very same moment Williams’, as well as co-trainers Johnny Eames and Barry Smith’s, serious expressions broke into beaming smiles, as the knowledge that the job was done and they were well and truly ready dawned on them. Once the round of congratulations came to an end Johnny Eames just couldn’t hide his contented smile as he said, “We’ve just finished the last twelve rounds of Leon Williams sparring. He’s sparred with three different big southpaws, who all fought in the style of Rob Norton. To be honest he dusted everyone of them up. He’s ready, now I can’t wait ‘til fight night, Leon can’t wait ‘til fight night. I’m really confident and looking forward to the TKO having another British champion in the house.”