Liam Williams is closing in on his mandatory engagement with WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade with purse bids set to take place in Cardiff on February 10.
Promoters Queensberry Promotions (representing Welshman Williams) and Matchroom Boxing (on behalf of Andrade) have not been able to reach agreement after a 15-day negotiation period, so the highest bidder next week will determine who holds promotional rights to the fight.
Williams-Andrade should follow in Spring 2021 unless the champion chooses to vacate his WBO crown and move up to 168lbs as has been mooted in the past.
The purse bid would usually take place at the WBO’s headquarters in Puerto Rico, but due to both fighter’s affiliation with UK promoters during the Covid-19 Pandemic the venue has been switched to the British Boxing Board of Control’s offices in Cardiff.
Andrade-Williams was originally ordered in Match 2020 before the Covid-19 Pandemic interrupted those plans. Both fighters were then allowed interim bouts; Williams (23-2-1, 18 KOs) blew away Andrew Robinson in one last October but Andrade’s tune-up encounter was postponed after opponent Dusty Hernandez-Harrison tested positive for the Coronavirus. As a result, Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) has been out of action since a nine-round win over Luke Keeler in January 2020. The American had been chasing rival champions at 160lbs and 168lbs, but now appears headed into a dangerous mandatory.
Should Andrade relinquish, former WBO 154lbs champion Jaime Munguia (36-0, 29 KOs) is next in line to face Williams for the vacant crown.