Gould gets bout on Ijaz British title bill

Liam Gould….working on his weaknesses

LIAM Gould has been ironing out the creases in his game as he prepares to reach the next level.

He’s set for further action at Dudley Town Hall on Friday on a BCB Promotions bill topped by Ijaz Ahmed’s clash with Marcel Braithwaite for the British super flyweight title.

Gould, from Coseley, already has two points wins under his belt since turning pro last October. Both were whitewashes.

He turned over with a victory over MJ Hall, before repeating the trick against George Rogers in December. Both were by four round, 40-36 score-lines.

The 24-year-old felt like he’d been spoiled by Rogers, though, and rated his performance against Hall as the better of the two displays.

Gould has been rectifying his tactics since, both in the gym and sparring with quality opponents, such as Midlands champion and English title challenger Conah Walker.

Boxing is a family affair for Liam, with uncle Jimmy Gould, a former fighter, training him at Gymmies Fitness and Boxing gym, in Tipton.

Liam racked up 19 victories from 37 amateur bouts with Tipton’s William Perry Boxing Club. Jimmy amassing over 100 amateur outings and boxing for England.

The punching pipe-fitter now looks to make it a hat-trick of paid victories, with improvements being made.

He said: “I’ve done a few rounds with Conah (Walker) and he’s the most experienced sparring partner that I’ve had. He’s tough and relentless, so it’s been perfect preparation.

“I’m more of a range boxer, so it’s brought me on trying to keep him off. We’ve done six rounds twice. Another time, I did three with him and the same with Oli Cassidy, straight after.

“I’ve sparred with Oli (now a 6-0 pro) before, when we were both teenagers, but we’ve come on a lot since then. It’s all styles and things to think about.

“All of my training has been ramped up and I’ve been hard at it since the new year. I was told on the night (December 22),of my last fight, that I’d be out again in March, which was ideal.

“I had George Rogers that time and he was a bit negative. He didn’t want to engage and was tough to break down, because he was on the run so much.

“He was on the ropes a lot and most times, when I got in close, he tied me up. I was a bit frustrated with it, but it was still a comfortable win.

“I did hurt him in the second round. I caught him with a counter right hand and that really wobbled him. I rushed in and smothered my work, so we’ve been working on that in the gym.

“I’m still learning and that’s what it’s all about at this stage. Every time I spar, I’m doing better than I did the previous time, so I’m happy with the process.”

*Tickets for the bill are available - £40 standard, £75 VIP ringside - directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com.