By Ian S Palmer
The Interim WBC World Middleweight Champion Carlos Adames of the Dominican Republic squares off against former IBF and WBA Jr. Middleweight Champion Julian ‘ J Rock’ Williams of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this Saturday, June 24th. The 12-round bout from Minneapolis, Minnesota can be seen live in America on Showtime. Adames last fought in October when he stopped Juan Macias Montiel in the third round to take the interim title while Williams last boxed in November when he downed Rolando Mansilla by an eight-round unanimous decision.
The 29-year-old Adames fights out of the New York area, in Washington Heights and carries around a record of 22-1 with 17 Ko’s. He’s boxed 106 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 following a fine amateur career. He competed at the 2013 World Amateur Championships, won a gold medal at the 2012 Pan American Youth Championships, reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 World Youth Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2013 Pan American Championships.
Since turning pro he’s captured the WBA Fedecaribe, and WBA Fedelatin Welterweight Titles, the NABF, and WBO NABO Super Welterweight Crowns. His lone loss came to Patrick Teixeira via a unanimous decision in November, 2019 in a shot at the interim WBO Super Welterweight Title and was dropped in the seventh round along the way.
Adames hasn’t fought many other top level boxers up to now other than Teixeira but he did edge Sergiy Derevyanchenko via a 10-round majority decision in December, 2021 and also has wins over Patrick Day, Frank Galarza and Joshua Conley. He stands 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 73-inch reach and has pretty good power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 74 per cent but has gone the distance in three of his last six fights.
The 33-year-old Williams won his junior middleweight titles in May, 2019 with a unanimous decision over Jarrett Hurd and then lost them in his very next fight when he was stopped in the fifth round by Jeison Rosario. He then lost two fights in a row as he was beaten by Vladimir Hernandez by 10-round split decision in October, 2021. That skid was halted though in his last outing against Mansilla. Williams enters this contest with a record of 28-3-1 with 16 Ko’s.
His first pro loss came at the hands of Jermall Charlo in December, 2016 when he was stopped in the fifth round in a shot at the IBF Jr. Middleweight Belt. Williams’ lone draw was a six-round affair with Francisco Santana in 2011. He also fought a no-contest with Hugo Centeno Jr. in 2013 when the bout was halted in the fourth round due to an accidental head butt. Williams turned pro in 2010 and has 186 rounds of experience under his belt since then.
Williams stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a reach of 72.5 inches which means he gives up an inch in height and a half-inch in reach to Adames. He isn’t a knockout artist by any means as his current knockout ratio clocks in at 48.5 per cent.. Along with beating Jarrett Hurd he’s also beaten some other pretty good boxers over the years such as Nathaniel Gallimore, Ishe Smith, Joey Hernandez, Eliezer Gonzalez, Freddy Hernandez and Joachim Alcine.
Prediction…
Adames is a solid boxer with good skills and plenty of power while Williams has fine skills but lacks power. I’m expecting Williams to make things close for a few rounds but I think Adames will eventually wade in and wear him down to hold onto his interim title.
