He once held the IBO Light Middleweight Championship and has only ever lost in world championship fights, with the exception of one points loss in his second pro fight, yet Richard "The Secret" Williams is the man who will take on Howard Eastman for the vacant British Middleweight title on December 15 at the York Hall in London on a Matchroom Sport promotion. Eastman, who has challenged Bernard Hopkins and William Joppy in world title fights, attempts to break his losing streak and will provide Williams with a high hurdle to clear.

Williams was born in London in 1971 and now resides in Stockwell, England. An orthodox fighter and a former world champion, he is trained by Brian Lawrence and managed by promoter Barry Hearn.

"The Secret" recently moved up to middleweight for the first time against tough Hungarian Szabolcs Rimovszky, winning by a third round TKO. He has since had two more fights at the weight, winning one on points and one by TKO over tough Eastern Europeans.

While Williams' record is by no means inspiring, it's certainly not a bad one as he has 21 wins to his credit, 17 being by stoppage, with just 3 losses and 1 draw. He first won the Commonwealth Light Middleweight title in 2001 by stopping Tony "Bad Boy" Badea, a Romanian living in Canada.

Later that same year, Williams stopped the "Bulli Blaster" of Australia, Shannan Taylor, to claim the IBO crown. Taylor had been in the ring with the world champion Sugar Shane Mosley just two fights before, and has since challenged IBF Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham.

After defending his IBO crown a further three times, Williams was set to face tough Argentine fighter Sergio Gabriel Martinez in 2003. Martinez was 28-1-1 at the time with his sole loss coming to current WBO Welterweight Champion Antonio Margarito. Williams was to lose the fight by decision, and despite quickly winning back the Commonwealth title, "The Secret" was knocked out in the ninth round in a rematch with Martinez 10 months later.

Williams was recently on the undercard of the Guiseppe Laurie - Ted Bami European Light Welter title fight, going up against hardheaded Croat Vedran Akrap. Despite not having the most impressive record, Akrap had never been knocked out but Williams stopped him via a TKO in the fifth after the third knockdown of the fight.

There is no doubt that Richard Williams is good enough to fight for world honours, at least once more in his career, however depending on how determined Howard Eastman is to do the same ,the fight may be out of Williams' hands if he is caught with one of the haymakers that the "Battersea Bomber" likes to throw.

Williams and Eastman are both now 35 years old and this fight could be their last chance to make it big and realize every boxer's dream, to become a world champion.

Click to read more boxing articles by James Oakley

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