Julian Williams wouldn’t describe his fight with Carlos Adames on Saturday as do-or-die for him.
The former 140-pound titleholder doesn’t need that kind of pressure. The reality is clear, though: He’s not going to get too many more opportunities like this one at The Armory in Minneapolis (Showtime).
Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) plunged from a pound-for-pound candidate after upsetting Jarret Hurd to win his belt in 2019 to an afterthought after a knockout loss to Jeison Rosario in his first defense and split-decision setback against Vladimir Hernandez in his next fight.
The fight with Adames is an opportunity – perhaps his last – to recapture what he once had.
“That’s exactly how I’m looking at it,” he told Boxing Junkie on Tuesday.
What went wrong in those losses?
Williams didn’t want to discuss that, other than to say it was “an accumulation of a couple of things.” He just wants you to know that he has made the necessary adjustments in his preparation.
“At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what happened in the past,” he said. “What matters is that I didn’t get the ‘W’ I was supposed to get. What matters is what’s happening afterwards.
“… I didn’t let it get me down too much. Nobody cares who is down, who is depressed. You gotta keep going.”
Williams is only 33, an age when most fighters are still near their peak abilities.
He said he feels good physically. Why not? He has fought only four times in the past four years. And while he has been stopped twice (Jermall Charlo in 2016 and Rosario in 2020) he has never taken a beating.
How is he emotionally? He acknowledged that his setbacks were disappointing. At the same time, as he said, there’s no point in dwelling in the past.
He has been working diligently to regain his form. That was evident in his most-recent fight, a shutout decision over Rolando Mansilla in his first fight as a full-fledged 160-pounder in November at The Armory.
He said that was only a first step, though, a chance to shed rust after a 13-month layoff. The best, he said, is yet to come. He expects to beat Adames and ultimately become a two-division beltholder.
“I think it will all come together on Saturday night,” he said.
One more thing: He doesn’t care what his doubters think.
“If I listened to people in the past,” he said, “about what people think of me, the ups and downs, I never would’ve been a world champion in the first place.”
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