Tony Sims speaks on type of opponent he’d like Liddard to face.
Despite being just 23 years old, middleweight contender George Liddard is being moved awfully quickly.
Towards the end of 2025, “The Billericay Bomber” impressed in a dominant performance over the very experienced Kieron Conway.
Perceived by many as a step too far for Liddard, the 12-fight up-and-comer would become the first to stop the 27-fight veteran and capture his British and Commonwealth straps in the process.
Having marked himself as a serious force in the 160-pound division, Liddard was in no mood for a tick-over in his next ring appearance, taking on another experienced operator in Tyler Denny.
In an entertaining brawl, Liddard emerged the victor by the same score on all three cards, cementing his status as a top presence at the weight.
That was in March, and because of the nature of Liddard’s increasing quality in opposition, there has been great interest in who the man he will next fight will be.
A fight with Scottish puncher Aston Brown was brought up as a potentiality, but after Brown’s stoppage loss to Sam Gilley on Friday, that is likely now out of the window.
Now Tony Sims (Liddard’s trainer) has spoken on when his next charge will be seen in action, and he had some very interesting things to say about who he may be facing.
Speaking to BoxingScene, Sims stated, “It’ll probably be July [when Liddard will next be out]. Watching Brad Pauls beat Shakiel Thompson–that’s the kind of opponent I’d like George to fight next. We tried to do that before [Tyler] Denny came in, but he was already booked to fight Shakiel Thompson. That kind of fight again–another experienced fighter–will stand him in good stead. Brad will have a good rating, and George has just entered the IBF [rankings] at 15, so that kind of fight will be a good next step for George.”
Pauls is a former British champion who has engaged in action fights with Nathan Heaney and Denzel Bentley. Most recently, he scored a come-from-behind stoppage over unbeaten contender Shakiel Thompson.
A fight between Liddard and Pauls would really get the blood flowing for many reasons. With Pauls recently announcing that he is set for a “massive” fight to be made official this week, though, we may have to wait a bit longer to see that particular pairing.
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