I nstant messages, texts, WhatsApps. Depending on how strongly glued to your hand your smartphone is, you might rifle through dozens or hundreds of these every day. Most will be throwaway or quickly forgettable. Irreverent, monosyllabic, or both. But, every now and then, there’s digital communication between two people that changes everything. As in the case of the rapid rise of British middleweight champion George Liddard. Let’s call it the butterfly effect of Instagram DMs. In early 2022, experienced Essex- based trainer Tony Sims needed someone to help prepare super middleweight challenger John Ryder for his bout with American former titleholder Daniel Jacobs. “Someone told me about George Liddard, said he’s a local boy. So I messaged him on Instagram and he came over and sparred,” Sims said. “I had a little look at him, and he was very mature for a 19-year-old, I felt. He’d just reached the semifinals of the ABAs (England Boxing National Amateur Championships). He was just a young boy, really.” “It all happened very fast,” Liddard recalled. “I got a text from Tony, and I had my first spar in January 2022. Then I went back there again on Friday because they wanted more rounds; this was sparring John Ryder and Felix Cash.” By November of that year, Liddard made his professional debut. Within three years, he turned in a star-making performance as he dominated Kieron Conway and stopped him in the 10th round at York Hall to win the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles. These were the fruits of arriving at Sims’ gyms and basically never really leaving. And yet, just 18 months before that fated message, Liddard felt ready to
PROSPECT WATCH: George Liddard By Dom Farrell
Liddard scored an impressive TKO 10 victory over Keiron Conway.
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