Following a fourth-round TKO victory against Aryee Ayittey in October, Heffron returned to the Manchester Arena to face former British super-welterweight champion Liam Williams for the vacant British middleweight title on 22 December, serving as part of the undercard for Josh Warrington's world title defence against Carl Frampton. After nine rounds of action Heffron was well behind on the scorecards. In the tenth, he was caught with a punch which prompted Williams to launch a sustained attack and force referee Howard Foster to issue a standing eight count. The fight resumed, only to be stopped moments later after Heffron was again on the receiving end of a barrage of punches, prompting Foster to call a halt to the contest to hand Heffron the first defeat of his career via tenth-round TKO.
