One of Ameica’s top boxing prospects is back in this ring this weekend in London’s Docklands. Austin “Ammo” Williams one of America’s top boxing prospects rose through the rankings last year with four wins and a colorful personality– notably trotting into the ring in December with “Prince Ziggy”, his pet dog by his side.
The 26-year-old fighter was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and spent many of his formative years in Houston, Texas.
Williams remembers having to spend a New Year’s Eve in the basement of his family home as bullets rained down. Then his mother received a promotion which changed the family’s fortunes and moved them over 1,000 miles away from Milwaukee to booming Houston, Texas.
.@AmmoAustin brought his best friend to work
pic.twitter.com/cZQmqJc56v
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 4, 2022
Williams match this weekend with River Wilson Bent will feature on the undercard of heavyweight Anthony Joshua’s fight against Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in London. Williams considers himself a fan of Anthony Joshua who is one of the most popular boxer’s across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The two are both late comers to the sport. Joshua, the two-time heavyweight champion began his boxing career at 18. Williams began his at 19.
Williams rose to prominence in Houston and soon caught the eye of another boxer who was a Houston transplant. Regis Prograis, the current World Boxing Council super lightweight champion, spared with Williams early in his career. Prograis was left impressed by the fighter eight years his junior and worked to draw attention to Williams within the boxing community.
Williams finds himself Saturday at the O2 Arena in London – ironically the site of the only loss of his mentor Regis Prograis. Williams was in Canada in training with Cameroonian-French super middleweight boxer Christian M’bili when he agreed to the fight in London on short notice.
“They offered the fight and I was ready it would have been great to co-promote me and Felix Cash’s future bout. It’s good for me not to sit around until June,” he said.
Williams had initially been set to come to London as a commentator.
UK middleweight champion Felix Cash was also supposed to appear on the bill this weekend. However, Cash canceled his appearance and thus greatly reducing the prospect of a fight between Cash and Williams in the near future. Williams dismissed the idea of a match-up between the two would happen anytime soon even though the fight has been teased to fans since mid-2022.
“I don’t see that fight in the landscape, it’s time to move forward from that he was supposed to fight me in early 2023 he decided to turn away from that, he pushed… he blew up a lot of things so it’s no longer in my benefit to even speak of him.”
Williams is ranked in the top twenty fighters in the world by multiple boxing-sanctioning organizations and is the third-highest-ranked middleweight in the world by the World Boxing Association. However, Williams refused to speculate on a future world championship fight with Zenger News.
“I’m fully focused on [River Wilson-Bent] because everything is on the line,” Williams said. Williams described River Wilson-Bent who stands 6’2 as a “tall and rangy opponent” and a “live dog, ready to fight.”
However, one pugilistic pooch that won’t be present in London on Saturday is Prince Ziggy – William’s dog. Williams said that UK regulations regarding bringing canines into the country will prevent his shaggy friend from appearing ringside.
