‘Hellraiser’ Gary Corcoran: “I’Ve Got Plans A, B And C. Let Williams Pick Which One I Beat Him With!”

Wembley warlord Gary ‘Hellraiser’ Corcoran is threatening to bring his own brand of fire and brimstone to heat up Cardiff Ice Arena this Saturday, writes Glynn Evans. The unbeaten 25 year old from Irish travelling stock has a score to settle with local fancy Liam Williams after the champion manhandled him at a recent press meet to publicise this weekend’s salivating British and Commonwealth light-middle showdown. ‘Williams said he’d knock me out at the face-off and our heads went into each other. Then he took a liberty and slapped me. I should’ve given him a slap back but he backed away sharpish. I’ll be touching him back in the face with interest in the ring on Saturday night!’ threatens Corcoran, the third eldest of 12 children in a famous fighting family. A reformed bad lad who was excluded from school on 19 occasions for scrapping without the gloves, the ‘Hellraiser’ was something of a novelty act when he joined the paid brigade as a free swinging light-welter in November 2011. However, since linking with cockney tandem Frank Greaves and Peter Stanley at The Peacock Gym in Canning Town last year, the west Londoner has evolved into a far more measured proposition. Over the past 12 months the bull strong, turbo charged terror has thwarted credible contenders Rick Godding (unbeaten in 22), Rick Skelton (undefeated in 13) and Danny Butler (25-5) in taxing 10 rounders. Education served, he is now frothing to be let off his leash. ‘I’ve picked up a lot of experience with my three 10 rounders, experience that Williams doesn’t have,’ claims Corcoran. ‘All those fights could all have been eliminators or for minor titles. Unlike the opposition Williams has faced, they all came to win the fight yet none of them came close to pushing me to my limit.’ This weekend the man who resides on a Paddington caravan site roams across The Severn Bridge for a ‘straightener’ with Rhondda hard man Williams that one senses would not be out of place on a valley mountain top. ‘Challenging in Cardiff excites me very much,’ insists Corcoran, and you tend to believe him. ‘I’ll thrive off having a big crowd against me. It’ll push me on. It’ll be hostile but I don’t think it’ll be nasty. Besides, I’m a traveller who’s witnessed a lot of unpleasant things in my life. I’m coming for war!’ ‘I’ve had a really good camp. I trained for a week and a half over in Cuba, I’ve been over in Ireland and I’ve been sparring Kell Brook and Bradley Skeete in England. Quality work. I know from sparring world champions that, the better my opposition, the more I’ll step it up.’ Champion Williams is commonly perceived as one of the most exciting and most gifted prizefighters to emerge from the Principality in years but, having scrutinized the evidence, Corcoran concludes that the latest Prince of Wales is seriously over-rated. ‘Look, Liam’s a good prospect but he’s fought no one,’ says Gary. ‘He rants about scraping me off the floor. Well, he can try but I’ve never been knocked off my feet in my life. Danny Butler had knocked plenty of good men out but couldn’t dent me. Liam’s a decent puncher but not a massive puncher. He’s deluded and he’s made for me! ‘I’ve got all the tools to beat him. Liam says I’ve no (boxing) brain but I’m just as tall (5ft 10) and can box him off the jab just as much as I can batter him up close. Whatever he comes with, I’ve got plans A, B and C. Let him pick which one I beat him with! Perhaps I’ll even do a Tyson Fury and fight him southpaw! ‘Liam’s trouble is he sees the red mist too quickly. When I told him I’d meet him mid ring at the presser, he reacted immediately. That was me a year or so ago. Immature. ‘If he meets me mid ring, I guarantee I’ll put him on the back foot. I’m stronger than him, faster than him and I use my head more. I’ll beat him because of the brain he says I haven’t got!’ Limited tickets are available on the door. BoxNation, the Channel of Champions, will televise the show live and exclusive on Sky 437/HD 490, Virgin 546, TalkTalk 415, Freeview 255 and also on smart connected devices via multiple platforms. Go to www.boxnation.com to see how you can watch this fight and more live!