Chosen to provide Simpson (18-1, 13 KOs) with a recognizable name for a high-profile, headline appearance in front of a terrestrial TV audience on the BBC on a Saturday night, Williamson was expected to put in a wholehearted but ultimately unsuccessful effort.

Williamson (22-4-1, 16 KOs) fought like a favorite rather than an underdog and exerted more and more pressure as the rounds passed December 20 at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. He finally broke through early in the 10th round and dropped Simpson four times before their fight was finally stopped.

Officially, the scorecards were close when the finish came, though it always felt like Williamson was the man in control of the fight.

Williamson made his name as the British junior middleweight champion. His struggles to make the 154-pound weight limit were well known, however, and moving up to 168 pounds has breathed new life into his career.

Simpson activated his rematch clause immediately after the fight, which caused the 34-year-old Williamson to miss out on some major opportunities in the months it took to nail down a date. He goes into their rematch firmly determined to make Simpson pay.

Their second fight has the feeling of a high-pressure, make-or-break night for Simpson.

In the space of two years, the popular 29-year-old contender went from fighting for an area title belt in a leisure center to headlining the football stadium in his hometown of Barnsley.

Simpson is a big super middleweight whose all-action, energetic style and exceptional engine saw him race through the ranks. His British title win over Zak Chelli in August 2024 has aged extremely well, especially after Chelli’s recent victory over world-ranked light heavyweight, David Morrell.

However, Simpson’s recent form does lend weight to Williamson’s belief that he has spent too long getting his 6-foot-3 frame down to 168 pounds.

In June 2025, Italian puncher Ivan Zucco had him on the floor twice during the early stages of their fight for the vacant European title, before Simpson got close, tightened his defense and eventually battled his way to a 10th-round stoppage win.

Then came the late collapse against Williamson.

Simpson made the difficult decision to leave his longtime trainer, Mark Hurley, after the fight. He later linked up with Rob McCracken at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. His hope is that a strictly focused camp and the experienced, calming influence of McCracken help him even the score with Williamson and reclaim any lost ground.

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Troy Williamson: “I think he activated the rematch just down to pride alone. I think he's been pushed into it, if I’m honest. Like I said, he needs to move up [in weight], he should move up. I’m going to knock him out again. And coming back from two knockout losses, it’s going to be hard.”

Callum Simpson: “Everyone says, ‘Maybe it’s a good thing it happened.’ I wouldn’t say it’s a good thing that I lost, but you’ve got to look at the positives from it and feel like I’ve made changes that needed to be made and working on things I need to work on. I never boxed for Team GB, never even won a national or regional title [as an amateur], but definitely gone back to basics with Rob. I’m never going to lose what I’ve worked on with Mark, but it’s what I can add to that as well.”

Despite suffering a heavy defeat in their first fight, Simpson is a surprisingly short price to even the score. He is priced at 4/7 (-175) with Bet365. Williamson is a 5/4 shot (+125) to repeat his victory.

Boxxer has high hopes for Dutch light heavyweight Gradus Kraus (11-0, 10 KOs).

So far, nobody has been able to take the 25-year-old prospect beyond six rounds. He looks strong, athletic and certainly punches hard. Kraus looks likely to face the sternest test yet of his boxing ability when he faces the slick American Sean Hemphill (19-3, 11 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature.

New Orleans’ Hemphill has already upset one Boxxer hopeful.

Hemphill looked good as he outpointed Mark Jeffers on a Simpson undercard in June 2025 in Barnsley. Since then, his only action has been a strange 10-round loss to the less experienced Ty Mitchell. Hemphill moved up from super middleweight for this fight and he may struggle with Kraus’ physicality.

Middleweight hopeful Mauro Silva (9-0, 4 KOs) is also worth watching. The Portuguese prospect is set to encounter England’s Tyler Christopher (12-0, 2 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.

Williamson versus Simpson 2 will be streamed live globally on DAZN.

Coverage of the prelims gets underway on DAZN’s YouTube channel at 4:30 p.m. BST in the UK and 11:30 a.m. ET in the United States. Coverage of the main card starts at 7 p.m. GMT and 2 p.m. ET.