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Danny Williams pursues secret career as a Latvian boxer

Danny Williams was beaten in the second round by Dereck Chisora © PA Photos

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Danny Williams' storied boxing career may have appeared over when he lost to Dereck Chisora in May 2010, but the 37-year-old has made a surprising return, fighting under a Latvian license.

Williams is a former British and Commonwealth champion, who beat Mike Tyson - albeit a past-his best Mike Tyson - back in 2004. However, back-to-back losses to Carl Baker and Chisora prompted the British Boxing Board of Control to tell Williams not to put it in the embarrassing position of having to deny him a licence, so his 15-year career seemed to have run its course.

That was until a chance meeting opened Williams' eyes to the possibility of gaining a Latvian licence - in a country he has never visited - and he has already made a successful return against Frank Roth, a German who had won only two of his previous 25 bouts.

Now Williams will fight again, against 39-year-old Hungarian Laszlo Toth in Hamburg, and he will do so for free. Unlike many other retired boxers, Williams is well-placed financially; he simply cannot let go of the fighting drug.

"I've been fighting since the age of eight and I love the sport too much to walk away," he told the Times. "All I want to do is box. I have no desire to become a trainer or a promoter. I'm a realist, not a fool. I know what skills I've got left and what level I can still box at.

"I was a shot fighter when I fought Chisora. The only reason he didn't knock me out in the first round was because he showed me too much respect. Guys like Chisora looked up to me when I was at my best because they knew I was a talented fighter. But my boxing had deteriorated so badly that they were able to beat me. They just had to realise it."

Williams has been keeping his comeback secret, fighting for nothing, training when everybody else is in bed, and operating under the initials DPW.

"Because I'm now effectively a Latvian boxer, I've given up my right to fight for the British title," he said. "I'm just going to see where things take me. I've been training at my old amateur club, the Lynn in Peckham. They've given me a key and I go in there at night when the amateurs have gone home.

"All through my career I was hampered because I put far too much pressure on myself. Now that pressure has lifted and I know where I am in the sport, I'm enjoying it so much more. I just don't want to finish boxing yet. I love everything about it."

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