Troy Williamson insists he will not let emotion get the better of him when he gets in the ring again with Callum Simpson.
Darlington’s British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion has been a frustrated fella throughout 2026 after being made to wait for a highly-anticipated re-match against the Yorkshireman.
The pair renew their rivalry on Saturday night in Leeds in the same First Direct Bank Arena where Williamson brought Simpson’s world crashing down in December.
On the subject of the world, Troy had designs on challenging for one of the global belts this year, only for BOXXER to drag him back down the A1 for this re-match.
It’s made the 34-year-old rather cross but he rebuffed any suggestion that anger might distract him inside the ropes when it comes to completing a double over the Barnsley star.
“Definitely not,” he insisted.
“I’ve never let emotion or frustration get to me.
“I’ll be going into the ring fully composed and fully focused and ready to put on a dominant performance.”
Williamson took the then-unbeaten British, Commonwealth and European champ apart at the end of last year, felling him four times in the 10th round before, mercifully and belatedly, referee Lee Every rescued him.
Now, you can’t help but like Callum.
He is the most pleasant of lads and he’s a top-line fighter who loves boxing, Barnsley and his army of fans. In that order.
Seconds after his devastating first defeat he could have been forgiven for getting back to his dressing room PDQ to lick his wounds but he picked up the MC’s microphone to implore those fighting in the audience to put down their fists.
But punch-lines is not alone in being baffled why he wants to climb back inside the same auditorium, with the same gladiator.
“Ego,” ‘Trojan’ told punch-lines.
“He’s a fighter, I’d have probably done the same if I’d been him.
“I think it is a big mistake [for Callum].”
Williamson took out English super-middleweight title holder Mark Dickinson in the ninth and penultimate round of his break-out display at 168lbs last September.
And he dismantled Simpson just one stanza later in Leeds, where the tide seemed to be going in the challenger’s direction.
“It was, even if the scorecards before that round were in his favour,” said the Jordan Williams-trained boxer.
“Anyone who knows boxing and was watching the fight knows that I was winning comfortably.
“The scorecards weren’t needed in the end and won’t be needed again this time.”
Back then, Williamson was still in the early stages of a change in coaching combination with Williams in the Co Durham village of Trimdon.
Now Barnsley boy Callum has made a switch to Sheffield, where he is coming under the tutelage of Rob McCracken, the coach at the heart of the triumphs of Carl Froch and Anthony Joshua.
Might he not play a trump card in Simpson’s bid for revenge?
“I don’t see it playing a big part if I’m being honest,” said Troy.
“I think weight is the issue.
“I think Callum is going to try to box on the back foot, jab and move, but when the weight problem kicks in, he’ll revert back to holding his feet and then it’s game over.”
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Chris Dean/ BOXXER
