Bad stoppage?
That will be debated after referee Mark Nelson waved off the Carlos Adames-Julian Williams fight in the ninth round Saturday at The Armory in Minneapolis, giving Adames a knockout victory.
What is clear is that Adames, the WBC’s top 160-pound contender, gave a strong performance against a seasoned, determined opponent who came to win.
Adames (23-1, 18 KOs) took the fight to Williams (28-4-1, 16 KOs) from about the second round on, consistently pounding William’s body but also landing sharp punches to the head throughout the entertaining fight.
WOW 😱
Ref stops the fight in round 9 giving @BroncoAdames the TKO victory!#AdamesWilliams pic.twitter.com/5KQj03g5KV
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 25, 2023
The fourth round was particularly one-sided, as Adames landed a barrage of hard shots that forced Williams to hold in an attempt to survive.
Not only did Williams make it to the bell, he soon made it clear that he wasn’t going to give in that easily. Having recovered, he matched Adames punch for punch in brutal exchanges in the fifth round and beyond.
The former 154-pound titleholder had one of his better rounds in the eighth, which seemed to leave the outcome in doubt going into the ninth.
Then came disaster for the veteran contender. Adames hurt him in the middle of the round with a right hand and then battered him around the ring, forcing him back into survival mode as Nelson looked on closely.
Williams managed to stay on his feet again but he had taken considerable punishment. And Adames kept coming, although Williams, with his back to ropes in the final seconds of action, seemed to be fighting back.
Still, Nelson chose that moment to jump in and stop the fight with 15 seconds remaining in the round. He said afterward that he was trying to prevent Williams from getting seriously injured.
That explanation didn’t satisfy Williams and trainer Breadman Ewards, the latter of whom was livid after the fight.
““[The referee] couldn’t say nothing to me,” Edwards said. “I told him it was a was a typical A-side stoppage. It was a good fight. He was hurt and I’m not saying he wasn’t hurt, but a fight like this, a man not going down, they’re going back and forth.
“If he’s the killer that they say he is let him finish him. He was tired too. But it’s always predictable, it’s always the A-side that gets the same s—. [Williams] may not even have no more fights. At least let the fight go.
“[Williams] was down one time in the fight. [Adames] is supposed to be the most feared man in boxing, he never went down. Let him finish him if he’s going to finish him.”
Williams had a look of disgust on his face immediately after Nelson ended the fight but he was more fatalistic than his trainer.
“I think it was a terrible stoppage,” he said, “but what can I do. I’m healthy I feel fine. I thought it was a terrible stoppage. I thought it was pretty much even and I was taking over while he was getting tired. But what can I do?”
Meanwhile, Adames, who jumped for joy when the fight was stopped, supported Nelson.
“I think the referee stopped it because [Williams] could have really got hurt,” said Adames, who went on. “That’s when the referee stopped it, when I came with those two rights. If I would’ve hit him with another one, he probably would’ve gotten really hurt.”
Williams, 33, believes he deserves another shot at Adames.
“Of course I want a rematch,” he said. “It’s not his fault that the ref jumped in early. It looked corny. It looked bad. It was a great fight. … And the ref jumps in and stops it because I got a little bit buzzed. It’s boxing.”
The victory brings Adames closer to his first major title fight, which could come next if WBC champion Jermall Charlo vacates his title before fighting 168-pound champ Canelo Alvarez in September.
However, he chose not to discuss his future in detail.
“I’m going to rest for a little bit,” he said, “and see what’s next.”