Liam on himself as a kid.
“I was always a little bastard to be honest. I couldn’t stop having a fight with anyone. I’ve always been very hot headed. I’d play a game of rugby, football and tackles me hard and I was just going to punch them in the face and it was as simple as that. Nobody was going to stop me. It’s not the best approach looking back. If it was kid I’d probably slap him across the back of the head and tell him to sort himself out. That’s just the way I’ve always been. I’ve always been quite aggressive and short tempered in certain situations. As a kid there was always a lot of fights going on for me. On the football, rugby pitch and drinking cans underage, there was always something.”
Cider
“Even worse, back then it was three litres.”
Rugby
“Just local with the boys. I didn’t really actually play rugby properly. I used to play football. I used to fall over the ball. I had two left feet. I was crap. It was good but from a young age I knew that wasn’t me. I was always hands on and physical and football isn’t that. It didn’t work for me.”
Now a role model
“It’s nice. Not to blow smoke up my own ass, a lot of people from where I’m from do respect me. The kids look up to me. I drive past and you can see they’re looking. It’s amazing really because if I didn’t box I’d probably would have been in prison. I would have got up to no good.”
Face to face with Boo Boo Andrade
“I like a bit of back and forth to get a little edge to a fight. When we’re first in each other’s company I’m pretty sure there will be a bit of tension. For me it’s just about looking after number one and keeping myself calm. Keep myself active as well, bit of walking and stretching. Just staying focused and not allowing myself distractions. I’ll be turning my social media off. Now I’ve got a bigger name I get a crazy amount of people asking me for things, asking me for signed gloves and T-shirt’s. All this stuff. It’s lovely but it burns me head a little bit. I don’t think people quite understand the mental pressure fighters go through in fight week. Also it’s a case of dieting and making weight.”