Inverness City Boxing Club’s Adian Williamson says he made a statement to bring Scottish and Commonwealth Youth championships back to Highlands
Inverness City boxer Adian Williamson said he was determined to make a statement in the biggest fight of his life – and he duly delivered to become Commonwealth Youth Super Lightweight champion and Scottish Super Lightweight champion.
The 21-year-old, who is from Alness, went up against Jake Limond at Gladiators III in East Kilbride last Friday night looking to secure the belts.
When the final bell sounded at the end of the 10th round, it was Williamson who was announced as the winner by unanimous decision.
The roofer said: “I’m absolutely over the moon. It’s definitely one of the biggest achievements in my life to date.
“I sort of knew that I had the fight, but I kept it composed in the ring afterwards. When I got my hand raised, I just couldn’t believe it.
“The fight went well. We had a gameplan to apply pressure, and make a big statement compared to last time.
“I was on the front foot the whole time, and I felt like I pretty much blitzed the fight.
“I definitely thought I won the last title fight, but obviously the decision didn’t go my way, so I knew I had to do a lot more this time to make a bigger statement.”
It could so easily have been a turbulent enough build-up to the contest to put Williamson off his focus, but he powered through to take the titles.
As well as the fight itself being rescheduled for last Friday, Williamson also lost his grandfather leading up to the fight.
That made it a slightly bittersweet moment having the belts handed to him, as although he was over the moon, he also wished his grandad had been there to see it.
“It was definitely a hard time,” he admitted.
“I was really close with my grandad, he was like a dad to me. He wasn’t a boxer, he just followed it, but he was basically my number one supporter so he was there the whole time.
“When he was in the hospital, he told me to bring the belts home for him, so I used that as motivation to go forward.
“I was thinking about him in the ring when I got the belts. I was over the moon, but in the back of my mind I wished he was there to see it.”
Williamson has been chasing championships for a year, having lost out in his first attempt to win a Scottish belt last October.
He showed his mental strength to come back even better this time though, and become a double champion instead with a Commonwealth prize added on.
The Highlander still wants to achieve more in the sport though, and is determined not to let up in his continued bid to progress.
“Becoming a double champion has definitely already got me a lot of recognition, because I’m walking through town and people I don’t know are congratulating me,” he added.
“I didn’t really think I would be up for a Scottish and a Commonwealth title yet. I knew I would be at some point, but not this quickly, so I’m really happy I took the opportunity when it was presented to me.
“Hopefully I’ll get back to fighting again as soon as possible. I want to go for world titles and go as far as I can, but I know I have to take good steps instead of jumping into stupid things.
“There is a right time for everything, so I just have to take it one step at a time and not get too big-headed.
“I feel like you have to have a mentality that someone is out there training harder than you, so I have to train even harder.”