Liam Williams staying ready for world title shot still
Liam Williams' (22-2-1) world title ambitions and family ties have a common theme during boxing's Covid-19 suspension – both are so near, yet so far.
The 27-year-old Welshman is the mandatory challenger to champion Demetrius Andrade (29-0) for the WBO world middleweight title, but the sport's shutdown means no date has yet been confirmed for the bout.
While Williams has returned home from his Sheffield training base, he is avoiding visiting his four-year-old daughter due to the risk of exposing her to coronavirus.
"It's nice to have the time back home, but to be honest with you I'm not actually seeing many people because of all that's going on now," he told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
"And I haven't seen my daughter for five or six weeks because I've obviously been going out doing bits of training and whatever.
"She's only four and I don't want to be going back and forth to her, carrying germs or whatever.
"I Facetime her every single day, but it's not the same, is it? It's all a bit weird."
That strange scenario is mirrored as 'The Machine' goes about the business of staying in shape for what he confidently predicts will be the bout that will earn him a world crown.
The two-weight British champion continued, "It's difficult to find the right motivation to get yourself up in the morning and go and run or do bag work or whatever, because you might not be fighting for four months or five months or whatever it is.
"We've just got to wait for it to blow over and be patient, I suppose.
"I find having more time out of camp makes me worse mentally, because I've got no routine or anything to look forward to or to work towards.
"When I'm in camp I know what I'm doing every day. I know I'm dieting, I'm not drinking – everything, really."
Like the majority in the fight game Williams would much prefer any bout to be in front of a lively crowd of fans.
But he accepts: "I could end up having to fight behind closed doors.
"I hope not, but if the opportunity comes then I'm not going to let my big chance pass by.
"We'll just have to see what happens over these next weeks and months."
In the meantime, Williams is dedicating himself to keeping "in some kind of shape, physically and mentally".
He adds: "When the time does come, it could open back up quite quickly and could be asked if you want a fight in 10 weeks and if that is the case I want to be ready.
"Now, knowing I'm so close – I'm mandatory challenger now – so for me it's just like it's only a matter of time before I'm world champion and fighting for the world title, so that's what's keeping me going at the moment.
"If I wasn't on the verge of big things I'd probably just be out on the booze every day."
The fight is likely to be staged in the US with Andrade's promoter Matchroom Boxing favouring Providence, Rhode Island, as the potential venue for a summer fight.
Andrade, 32, who is from Providence, is undefeated and recentl defeated Ireland's Luke Keeler in his last defence in Miami.
Williams, 27, has won six successive fights since back-to-back losses to former world titlist Liam Smith in 2017, including an eye-catching stoppage victory over American Alantez Fox last time out.
Promoted by Frank Warren, Williams will be the second Welsh boxer to fight for a world title in 2020, with Swansea's Jay Harris falling short in his bid to become WBC world flyweight champion in Texas, despite producing a spirited display against the formidable Julio Cesar Martinez.
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