Darren "Dazzo" Williams (born 19 March 1974) is a British former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 2001 to 2005. He held the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

title from 2003 to 2005 and challenged once for the Commonwealth and

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

European featherweight titles in 2005.

Career

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, London, and based in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

during his boxing career, Williams, a former soldier, trained at Gelligaer ABC. He won the 1998

Amateur Boxing Association England Boxing, known until 2013 as the Amateur Boxing Association of England, is the leading governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in Northern Ireland being organ ...

British featherweight title, when boxing out of the Army ABC.

Professional career

He made his professional debut in February 2001, beating Mickey Coveney via a second-round knockout. After winning eight from his first ten fights, culminating in a narrow title eliminator win against Steve Chinnock, he challenged for Roy Rutherford's British featherweight title in November 2003 at the Kings Hall, Belfast, taking another narrow points decision.Worsell, Elliot (2005)
Cook and Williams set to rumble for all three titles.
, eurosport.co.uk, 13 June 2005. Retrieved 30 August 2015 He made three successful title defences in 2004, beating Jamie McKeever, Rutherford, and John Simpson (a controversial victory by only one point) to win the

Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, The 5th Earl of Lonsdale introduced the prize on behalf of the National S ...

outright.Williams to get Back in the Ring
,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 26 March 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2015 In June 2005 he faced

Nicky Cook Nicky Cook (born 13 September 1979), sometimes known by his ring name Cookie, is a British retired professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2011. He held the WBO super featherweight title from 2008 to 2009. He challenged once for the WBO fe ...

, with Cook's Commonwealth and European titles at stake in addition to Williams' British title. Cook knocked Williams out in the second round. Williams retired from boxing after the Cook fight, initially opening the Wye Amateur Boxing Club with Allan Ford, later also going into promotion. In 2008 he staged a 100-round 'spar-a-thon' at Wye ABC to raise money for the club. In 2010 the club won the

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The King's Award for Voluntary Service, previously known as The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sector of the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies. Until 2022, awardees were announce ...

.Hereford Boxing Club's royal honour
, ''

Hereford Times The ''Hereford Times'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper published every Thursday in Hereford, England. Its offices are based in Rotherwas. The editor is Alicia Kelly. The newspaper covers events across the county of Herefordshire as well as some o ...

'', 3 June 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Dazzo 1974 births Living people English male boxers Featherweight boxers Boxers from the London Borough of Lambeth Sportspeople from Hereford 20th-century English sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen People from Lambeth