Weight drained and out of options after suffering three consecutive defeats, the former British junior middleweight champion was seriously considering crossing codes when he received a call to step up to 168 pounds for a fight with his local rival, Mark Dickinson, in September.

“Yeah, I was going to do it because I was coming off three losses and I thought, ‘What opportunities am I going to get next?’ ” a revitalized Williams told The Ring in advance of his rematch with Callum Simpson on August 8. “Then the call came to fight Mark Dickinson at super middleweight and I knew that, deep down, really I was at the wrong weight.

“I was just finding out the wrong way. I only took my losses because I was at the wrong weight. So, I move two weights to super middle, beat Dickinson and bare knuckle was out my mind. Long gone.”

Dickinson was a highly successful amateur who looked like he was finding his feet as a professional. Hand picking a respected but out of form fighter like Williamson offered him the chance to learn some valuable lessons and take a notable scalp.

Williamson tore up the script. Dickinson missed weight by 5.5 pounds, but rather than shrinking away from the idea of fighting what, in effect, was a light heavyweight, a rampaging Williamson ruthlessly took his opportunity and resurrected his career with a vicious ninth-round knockout.

In December, he turned in an even more impressive performance as he bullied the popular and previously undefeated Simpson en route to a 10th-round stoppage. That win earned him the British, Commonwealth and European super middleweight titles and announced him as a legitimate threat on the world stage.

DAZN will stream the highly anticipated rematch between Williamson (22-4-1, 16 KOs) and Simpson (18-1, 13 KOs) next month from First Direct Arena in Leeds.

Williamson’s dramatic upturn in form coincided with his step up in weight. He refuses, though, to spend any time worrying about where his career may have taken him had he decided to stop fighting the scales earlier.

“I’m 34 years old, but I’m in the prime of my life,” Williamson said. “I feel better than what I did 10 years ago. I’m a big dude. For me to get down to 11 stone, it was really, really hard work. I didn’t have no life. It does go through my mind, but there’s no regrets because I chose to stay at 154 pounds. It’s silly of me, but luckily enough there’s no long-term damage. Obviously, I can continue to fight and I feel the best at 168, so I’m going to be even better in this rematch.”