By Ian S Palmer
IBF and WBA Jr. Middleweight Champion Julian ‘ J Rock’ Williams will be defending his belts for the first time this Saturday, January 18th when he meets Jeison Rosario of the Dominican Republic in Williams’ hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Williams won the titles in his last bout in May with a unanimous decision over Jarrett Hurd. Rosario last fought in April when he squeaked past Jorge Cota via a 10-round split decision. The 12-round title fight can be seen live in North America on Fox and Fox Deportes.
The 29-year-old Williams owns a fine record of 27-1-1 with 16 Kos to his name. His lone loss was a fifth-round KO at the hands of former IBF World Champion Jermall Charlo in December of 2016 while his draw was a six-round affair with Francisco Santana in 2011. Williams also fought a no-contest with Hugo Centeno Jr. when the bout was halted in the fourth round due to an accidental head butt. He turned pro in 2010 and has 171 rounds of experience under his belt since then.
Williams stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a reach of 72.5 inches. He has decent power with a current knockout ratio of 53.3 per cent and looked quite impressive when taking the belts from Hurd last year. There are a few other familiar names on Williams’ opponent list up to now other than Charlo and Centeno Jr. such as Ishe Smith, Joey Hernandez, Eliezer Gonzalez, Freddy Hernandez and Joachim Alcine.
Rosario is just 24 years old and climbs through the ropes with a mark of 19-1-1 with 13 Kos. His lone defeat came at the hands of Nathaniel Gallimore by way of sixth-round TKO in April of 2017. His draw was a six-round affair with Mark Anthony Hernandez in February of 2018. Rosario turned pro in 2013 and has 86 rounds of experience under his belt. He’s got pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 62 per cent.
At 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 70-inch reach, Rosario is an inch taller than the champion Williams but gives up 2.5-inches in reach. He’ll also be stepping up in class this weekend as Rosario’s toughest opponents up to now have been Gallimore, Hernandez, Cota, Juan Rodriguez, Jamontay Clark, Justin DeLoach and Salim Larbi. Rosario won the vacant Dominican Republic Welterweight Title with a second-round TKO over Jose Vidal Soto in 2014 and the vacant WBA Fedecaribe Super Welterweight Belt with a third-round stoppage of Euri Gonzalez in 2015.
Prediction…
Williams’ chin was somewhat exposed against Charlo and he can’t take the hard-hitting Rosario lightly. Williams looked great against Hurd but Rosario’s been boxing as a pro since he was 17 and has quite a bit of experience. Rosario’s a good-looking prospect with boxing skills and power but I’m expecting Williams to hold onto his belts Saturday night, especially fighting in his hometown of Philly.
