A Warwickshire boxer who was invited to train with current heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk has said the invite put great confidence in his mind as he looks to grow his boxing career.
Lewis Williams, from Royal Leamington Spa, told the BBC that stepping into the ring to spar with the Ukrainian champion made him think ‘it doesn’t get much higher than this’.
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The 27-year-old Warwickshire fighter said he wanted to make sure he got the most out of the experience, before Usyk retires.
“I learned lots of little tricks within the ring and then the professionalism outside the ring. The whole team is very professional,” said Williams.
Oleksandr Usyk, wearing white gloves, defeated Rico Verhoeven, to retain in WBC World Heavyweight title in May 2026 [Reuters/ Amr Abdallah Dalsh]
Williams turned pro in 2024, two years after winning the gold medal in the men’s heavyweight division at the Commonwealth games in Birmingham.
Since then, he has had four professional fights and won all of them, but said he was taking more than just ring craft from his training session with Usyk at the session in Spain.
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“I’m trying to build my own team, everybody has a purpose, no ‘yes men’. That was my idea to build that up from the get-go as a professional.
“To see how many people he’s got on his team, this person does that, this person does this, this is how he prepares before he spars.”
Williams, who fights out of Clearys Gym in Leamington, said after the camp, he passed on what he learned to his own coach in Warwickshire.
He said he’ll try and keep a few things to himself, but he expects to be challenged by his coach if he goes against what he’s picked up and has agreed to use in his own training.
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Williams also said that since he turned pro, it has been a constant learning curve.
“I’ve definitely changed in the years since winning that [Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2022], but I’ve got a lot more to learn, like doing these training camps.
“I will continue to gather the experience, there’s never enough to learn. As soon as you start to say I’ve learned it all and get a bit too cocky with it, there’s confidence and there’s arrogance, but you’ve got to put the work in with it.”
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