Anthony Yarde stopped Travis Reeves in round five of their scheduled 12-round light heavyweight bout at Royal Albert Hall in London.

In round five, Yarde landed several heavy and flush right hands that wobbled Reeves, and referee Marcus McDonnell stopped the bout at 48 seconds.

Yarde is now 18-0 with 17 knockouts. Reeves is 17-4-2.

Liam Williams obliterated Joe Mullender in round two of their scheduled 12 round middleweight fight.

Williams dropped Mullender in the 2nd frame with a crushing uppercut that sent Mullender down face-first. Mullender got to his feet, only to eat a booming right that knocked him down and out and the fight was immediately waved off at 1:09.

Williams is 20-2-1 with 15 knockouts. Mullender is 11-3.

Daniel DuBois remained undefeated by stopping Razvan Cojanu in round two of their scheduled ten-round heavyweight bout.

DuBois landed a hard left-right that dropped Cojanu in the 2nd frame. Cojanu could not get to his feet before then ten-count at 2:48.

DuBois is 10-0 with nine knockouts. Cojanu is 16-6.

Hamzah Sheeraz destroyed Rod Douglas Jr inside of a round of their scheduled six-round junior middleweight bout.

Sheeraz dropped the overmatched Douglas three times before the fight was stopped when the towel was thrown in at 1:10.

Sheeraz is 7-0 with three knockouts. Douglas is 2-2.

The press conference ahead of Friday night’s return of boxing to the Royal Albert Hall, live on BT Sport from 7.30pm, took place today in South Kensington.

Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren was in attendance, along with headline fighters Anthony Yarde, Travis Reeves, Daniel Dubois, Razvan Cojanu, Liam Williams, Joe Mullender, Johnny Garton and Chris Jenkins.

**MEDIA ARE WELCOME TO DOWNLOAD AND USE FACE OFF VIDEOS FROM TODAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE BELOW LINKS**

Yarde v Reeves
Dubois v Cojanu
Williams v Mullender
Garton v Jenkins

Below is a selection of quotes from the media gathering at the Gore Hotel.

Frank Warren

I believe the Royal Albert Hall is the oldest active boxing venue in the UK, so it is a historical place as far as this sport is concerned.

I was told just now that nearly a hundred years ago the first welterweight championship fight took place, so it is fitting that we have a British welterweight title fight on the show.

I am looking forward to it, it is a fantastic venue as we all know and there isn’t a bad seat in the house. We’ve only got about 300 tickets left so we should have a really good atmosphere for the top fights we’ve got on the card.

Travis Reeves, I know, doesn’t come to make up the numbers and is well respected as a tough opponent – Anthony’s toughest yet. I’ve got faith in Anthony, I think he is the real deal and he needs to look good in this fight and make a statement. I was talking to Tunde Ajayi – his manager and trainer – before and we both feel that after this he is ready to go. He’s got to get through it though, it will be no walk in the park and I think Travis will get the best out of him.

Joe Mullender

To be honest, I don’t know what I’ve said to do his head in because I haven’t really said anything. I have only spoken when I’ve been interviewed and I don’t even really want to do that.

He is the champion and on paper I don’t stand a chance. I do my best and I know I am in for a tough night in the early rounds because if he is a world class fighter he gets me out.

I’m not a world class fighter on paper and I’ve only fought at English level. He is a very good fighter and I’ve got to try and live with him. My best is all I can do.

I’m not going to outbox him, am I? That’s not happening so I’ve got to stand there and fight with him and take the punishment. That’s it, I can’t really do anything else. He is better than me in most departments and there is only one department I can have a go at, which I am going to do. If I can go through it, I will stand and have a fight with the man for 12 rounds.

Liam Williams

You sound like you’ve lost already, Joe, to be totally honest with you. I honestly believe he is not in my class and he’not, but what he is is very tough, game and he’s got bags full or a**h**e, simple as that. I know he will come to fight and we will.

I haven’t got much bad to say about him, but I don’t like him saying stuff like ‘it is just another gaff’ because this is his biggest opportunity and he keeps trying to downplay it and make out like he doesn’t care.

I should be on his mind 24-7 but he is playing it down and that is what does my head in. Joe Mullender is getting mullered. I expect to stop him 100 per cent and he is gonna get hurt.

Chris Jenkins

This fight came from nowhere really. If you look at my defeats they were only that because I got split and against Tyrone Nurse I thought I won one and the other was very close. Really I haven’t taken them as losses or considered walking away from the sport.

I might be a bit of joker but I take the sport seriously and think I am British level. We have done a few rounds of sparring together two years ago and he is a good fighter. I watched his last fight against Corcoran and he looked good there as well. We will see what happens on the night, we have got a game plan, but he needs to have a shave tomorrow.

Johnny Garton

I remember the spar, it was a tough one and I really think this is a 50-50 fight. I also think it will be fight of the night, but I leave it all in the ring and I think I will come through this. In any fight you need to get it to be your type of fight and I am sure I will. I still don’t think being British champion has sunk in properly. A

few months ago nobody knew who I was or paid any attention, now I’ve got press conferences and people wanting to interview me, so it has totally changed. I am lapping it up, enjoying it and hopefully I will get a few more paydays.

Razvan Cojanu

You ask me to make a comparison between Nathan Gorman and Daniel Dubois, but they are two different fighters and it has nothing to do with this fight.

For me, Nathan Gorman is the best, but now I am in shape for this fight, unlike last time. We’ve watched Daniel and he is a great fighter and excellent prospect. He is a young guy, undefeated, and I have the pleasure and excitement to be in the ring with him.

Daniel Dubois

I am in as good a shape as I have been in my whole professional career and I am planning to put on a show on Friday night.

I have done all the hard work and now I just have to get in there and perform. I only watched some of the highlights of his last fight and it was what it was, but I am going to go in and perform at my absolute best and show what I have got. I don’t think I am far away from the top, but I want to let my performances speak for themselves.

Getting to the top keeps me motivated and in the gym. That is the goal.

Travis Reeves

I am excited for this fight and I am all over it. It is a fight we thought we were going to have a few years back, so I am looking forward to beating Anthony and moving on to the next level and fighting for a world title.

I am the best in the States and, after I beat Anthony Yarde, I will be the best fighter in Europe. I have fought my way to the top and this fight will take me to a world title, which is what I have come here for.

Anthony Yarde

I am not one to look to much at my opponent and, the same as everyone else, I am learning about him from listening to him now. I am learning on the job as well.

This year will most definitely be a big year for me and I said that last year that 2019 would be my year if I keep putting on big performances. You haven’t heard me mention Sergey Kovalev because I focus on one thing at time and he has not been put in front of me yet. Travis Reeves is the name my focus is on. I am going to go in there and take care of business. Turn up, show up, blow up.

Daniel Dubois v Razvan Cojanu and Anthony Yarde defending his WBO Intercontinental light heavyweight title against Travis Reeves tops a huge night of boxing at the Royal Albert Hall that also includes the British middleweight title clash between Liam Williams and Joe Mullender, while British welterweight champion Johnny Garton makes a first defence of his belt against the Welshman Chris Jenkins. Unbeaten featherweight Lucien Reid takes on his toughest test to date against Birmingham’s Indi Sangha. Unbeaten prospects Hamza Sheeraz, Denzel Bentley, Jake Pettitt, James Branch jr and Harvey Horn also feature on the show.

Remaining tickets from £40 and are available to buy via www.RoyalAlbertHall.com

GRAND TIER: £100
LOGGIA: £100
SECOND TIER: £75

LIAM WILLIAMS has ripped into big fight rival Joe Mullender telling him: “You can’t punch and you’ve got no skills.”

Williams makes the first defence of his British Middleweight crown against the Essex man at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Friday March 8.

Mullender has earned a reputation as one of boxing’s tough men, but the Welshman who beat Mark Heffron in December to become British champion roared: “That’s not enough.

“He has fought no one, he can’t punch, he has got no skill. He is just very fit and tough.

”I am going to beat him. It’s not going to be pretty. He is going to come for a rough and tough fight. I don’t think it is going to work well for him.”

Mullender believes aggression that has served him well in his career will be a shock to the system for Williams, and the key to causing a big upset in the BT Sport televised fight.

Williams added: “Joe is a pressure fighter, but I don’t think he will be so keen on that once I start landing.

“Maybe he is as tough as he says and can keep going forward. Boxing isn’t just about going forward and taking three shots to land one.

“If he was a massive puncher, then yeah you can try that, but he isn’t a big puncher.

He isn’t going to see the final bell.

“He is daring me to try and stop him. He can say what he wants, but he is kidding himself.

“I am just going to keep putting pressure on him and break him down. He is trying to convince himself.”

Williams is now settled at his Sheffield training base under Dominic Ingle where he trains alongside Nicola Adams, Willy Hutchinson, Billy Joe Saunders and Kid Galahad who is soon to challenge IBF Featherweight champion Josh Warrington on a Frank Warren bill.

He is close to all his gym-mates, particularly Hutchinson who he shares a flat with in the Steel City.

Williams says: “I spend a bit of time with Billy Joe and Kid Galahad. Recently Willy moved into a flat with me.

“Willy is a bit messy and leaves plates so I have to tidy up, but he is only 20.

“I am like the Dad of the house. I’m usually the child when I’m back home because my Mum does everything for me, but it is me running round after Willy here.

“Life is really good. I’m just plugging away, working hard and making sure I am bang on. I’m just counting down the days to the fight.”

Elsewhere on the show, Anthony Yarde will defend his WBO Intercontinental title against Baltimore’s Travis Reeves. Daniel Dubois follows in the footsteps of British heavyweight greats to fight at the historic venue and takes on Razvan Cojanu in his tenth fight. Johnny Garton makes the first defence of his British Welterweight title against Chris Jenkins. Lucien Reid will fight Indi Sangha in what will be his toughest test to date, while Flyweight Harvey Horn, Middleweight puncher Denzel Bentley and Cruiserweight talent James Branch feature.

Tickets are priced from £40 and are available to buy via RoyalAlbertHall.com

TICKETS START FROM £40

GRAND TIER: £100

LOGGIA: £100

SECOND TIER: £75

LIAM WILLIAMS BELIEVES his March 8 British title challenger Joe Mullender is overplaying his hand ahead of their highly-anticipated showdown with continual claims that he will simply drag the champion into a punch-up.

The pair clash at the Royal Albert Hall, with Williams making a first defence of the middleweight title he won in considerable style against Mark Heffron in December.

Mullender, a self-confessed slugger who likes to get up close, is confident he will be able to draw the more refined Williams into a scrap and insists it is the only way he knows.

Williams, for his part, says he is tiring of the back-to-basics rhetoric and is now even more determined to outclass what he considers a more limited opponent.

“Yeah, ‘I’m gonna punch him in the face – he’s gonna punch me’, it is getting boring now to be honest with you,” stated the 26-year-old former British super welterweight champion from Clydach Vale.

“At first maybe I was, not overlooking him, but I’ve always thought from day one that I am going to beat him fairly handily. Now, with him playing whatever card he is playing, it has motivated me even more because I just want to punch his head in.

“He has done my head in a bit so I just want to get him out of the way and make him realise the level he is at. That is what I’m going to do come March 8, so I haven’t got long to wait now.”

The 19-2-1 Williams contends that Mullender cannot have it both ways when, on the one hand, he claims it is just a fight while, on the other, it is the biggest occasion of his career with the treasured Lonsdale belt at stake.

The punch traffic, he adds, will be in one direction only.
“Yeah, exactly, he is just a bit boring and what I have seen is him keep saying we are going to punch each other’s heads in. Not at all, he is not going to punch my head in, I’m just going to beat the f**k out of him and go home still as British champion – and move on unmarked.

“That is exactly where we are at. He can keep thinking what he wants to think, or telling people what they want to hear, it makes no difference to me. I am still going to turn up on form and do my thing.”

The British middleweight title clash between Liam Williams and Joe Mullender is part of a huge night of boxing at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday March 8 that also features young heavyweight star in the making Daniel Dubois’ 10th fight against former world title challenger Razvan Cojanu, along with WBO world No.1 ranked light heavyweight Anthony Yarde defending his Intercontinental title against Baltimore’s Travis Reeves.
Also on the card, British welterweight champion Johnny Garton makes a first defence of his belt against the Welshman Chris Jenkins, while unbeaten featherweight Lucien Reid takes on his toughest test to date against Birmingham’s Indi Sangha.
Unbeaten prospects Hamza Sheeraz, Denzel Bentley, Jake Pettitt, James Branch jr and Harvey Horn also feature on the show.

Tickets are priced from £40 and are available to buy via www.RoyalAlbertHall.com

JOE MULLENDER WAS given prior notice that his name was firmly in the frame for a shot at the British title, but being tipped the wink did not prompt a scouting mission to assess the strengths of a potential opponent.

Mullender challenges Liam Williams for the British middleweight title at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday March 8 and the basher from Brentwood, known as Smokin Joe, had knowledge of the prospect before the Welshman claimed the title with an emphatic stoppage of the previously unbeaten Mark Heffron at the Manchester Arena in December.

“I was at one of the award do’s with my manager Andy (Ayling) and Francis (Warren) and they just said to me ‘do you want to fight the winner?’. I said ‘how much?’ Done!” stated the 32-year-old with a record of 11-2.

A pre-Christmas jaunt to Manchester was never on the cards though, according to the former English champion.

“No, I’m not bothered, it really doesn’t bother me,” insisted Mullender. “I could have gone there and sat ringside peeping through the ropes. What difference is that going to make?

“I can’t judge a fight and sit there wondering if I could exploit this or that. Listen, he’s gonna punch my head in and I’m gonna punch his head in. Game plans go out of the window so it is irrelevant to me who won because at this level everyone is a good fighter.

“I know what I am good at and I know what I have to do. What he’s good at, he’ll do, so there is nothing special to it in my opinion.

“I don’t feel like I had to sit there and watch it and I haven’t looked at it since either. I don’t need to, Liam is a good fighter and I am not one to sit and study and opponent.

“Who is he? Lovely, see you then.”

Williams is a world level operator who has previously challenged for an Interim title at super welterweight, as well as a final eliminator for a world title. Mullender, by contrast, admits his style is of a more basic nature and could be described as up close and personal.

“Yeah and it is made for fighters like Liam, but my tactics are not going to change. I’m not going ‘I’m going to shock the world’ and then go on the back foot. I’m telling him in the press conference that I am coming to ‘ave it with him.

“So he either irons me out or we are having a fight. It is as simple as that.
“I don’t pretend to be something I’m not, but everyone can come and watch me or fighters of my style and think they will pick them apart.

“Well, who has?

“I don’t know what he will do, but he can make it a very simple fight for himself by running, staying on the back foot and jabbing my head off. That is probably what Dom Ingle is saying to him, that I am basic and if I take too many he will stop me.

“Come on then, stop me!

“It is one thing looking at it from the outside and saying I am going to do this or that. When I am on your chest, try and stop me then. If you ain’t, I am gonna tickle your ribs and I am gonna beat you up.

“Otherwise, you’ve got to beat me up. It isn’t hard to work out.”

Tickets are priced from £40 and are available to buy via RoyalAlbertHall.com
TICKETS START FROM £40
GRAND TIER: £100
LOGGIA: £100
SECOND TIER: £75

LIAM WILLIAMS has blasted back at Joe Mullender, claiming his big rival wishes he had his talent.

The British Middleweight champion believes the Essex man lied when he claimed he hadn’t bothered watching Williams (19-2-1) title winning performance against Mark Heffron in December.

Williams makes the first defence of his crown against Mullender (11-2) at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Friday March 8 on Frank Warren’s stacked bill that is live on BT Sport.

Clydach Vale’s Williams raged: “Listen. He did watch my fight.

“He’s been at home thinking about it for weeks and wishing he could fight like me.

“He’s playing it down trying to win over the people, but don’t fall for it.”

Promising to repeat his impressive performance against Heffron who was rescued in the tenth round, the Welshman warned Mullender: “You know what time it is, sleepy time.”

Mullender last boxed in October when he floored Ben Capps four times, and won in seven rounds.

Williams insists he’s another level, and that his all-action challenger is already suffering mental torture ahead of the big fight.

“He can say what he wants,” Williams added.

“When he puts his head on that pillow at night he’s already watched himself get filled in over and over and the closer it gets the worse it will get.”

Elsewhere on the show, Nicola Adams OBE will look to make history and be the first female crowned World Champion at the venue as she challenges for the WBO World Flyweight Title against Arely Mucino on International Women’s Day. Daniel Dubois follows in the footsteps of British heavyweight greats to fight at the historic venue and takes on Razvan Cojanu in his tenth fight. Johnny Garton makes the first defence of his British Welterweight title against Chris Jenkins. Lucien Reid will fight Indi Sangha in what will be his toughest test to date, while GB Flyweight Harvey Horn, Cruiserweight talent James Branch and middleweight banger Denzel Bentley all feature.

Tickets are priced from £40 and are available to buy via RoyalAlbertHall.com

TICKETS START FROM £40

GRAND TIER: £100

LOGGIA: £100

SECOND TIER: £75

Anthony Yarde stopped Walter Sequeira in round four of their scheduled 10-round light heavyweight bout.

Yarde scored three knockdowns, and the nout was stopped at 2:14 of round four.

Yarde, 173 1/2 lbs is 17-0 with 16 knockouts. Sequieira, 174 1/4 lbs is 20-5.

Joe Mullender stopped Ben Capps in round seven of their scheduled ten-round super middleweight fight.

Mullender dropped Capps with a right hand in round seven. Moments later, it was a body shot that sent Capps down, and the fight was over at 1:36.

Mullender, 160 lbs is now 11-2 with five knockouts. Capps is 15-5-2.

Johnny Garton stopped former world title challenger Gary Corocoran in round 11 of a scheduled 12 round welterweight bout.

The fight had plenty of back and forth action throughout the bout.

In round three, Garton was cut under the right eye. The cut got worse and blood streamed down and covered the face of Garton.

In round 11, Garton landed a hard right hand that staggered Corocoan back to the ropes. Garton leveled Corocoan with hard shots, and the fight was stopped at 42 seconds.

Garton 146 lbs is now 23-1-1 with 10 knockouts. Corcoran, 146 lbs is now 18-3.

In a battle of undefeated super middlewights, Zak Chelli won a eight-round decision over Umar Sadiq

In round six, Cehlli dropped Sadiq with a hard right hand. Sadiq made a furious rally in the final round, and bloodied the nose of Chelli.

Chelli won by a score of 77-74, and is now 5-0. Sadiq is 3-1.

Nathan Gorman decisioned Kamil Sokolowski in a heavyweight bout.

Gorman, 255 lbs won by a score of 79-73 and is now 14-0. Sokolowski is 5-13-2.

Hamzah Sheerez won a four-round decision over Zygimantas Butkevicius in a super welterweight bout.

Sheerez won by a score of 40-36, and is now 5-0. Butkevicius is 1-14.