By Keith Idec

Jermall Charlo wasn’t satisfied with how he fought in his victory over Austin Trout.

Houston’s Charlo beat Trout by unanimous decision in his last fight, May 21 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. But the IBF junior middleweight champion expects to win more impressively in what figures to be a difficult fight against mandatory challenger Julian Williams on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Philadelphia’s Williams (22-0-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC) is the first undefeated fighter Charlo has been contracted to face during his six-year pro career. Charlo can’t wait to answer any lingering questions about his legitimacy as one of boxing’s top 154-pound fighters in his 12-rounder against Williams.

“I’m the bigger, better fighter,” Charlo told BoxingScene.com. “I’m faster, stronger, younger, and have the most experience. I’m ready, man. I’ve been through more than just getting ready for the Julian Williams fight.”

Williams wasn’t impressed with Charlo’s defeat of Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) because he expected Charlo to win that fight easier. Charlo wasn’t disappointed with that victory, yet knows he can perform better than the scorecards indicated he did (116-112, 116-112, 115-113) against a veteran southpaw who once soundly defeated Miguel Cotto.

“It was a solid win,” Charlo said. “When I go back and look at that fight, I feel like if I fought him again I’d probably stop him. It was a learning experience. He made adjustments and my trainer made me make adjustments. All around, it was just a good fight. A lot of people are biased and feel like I could’ve done more, or he won the fight. But I’m not getting into none of that.”

The 26-year-old Charlo acknowledged that his outing against Trout inspired him to get right back to work with trainer Ronnie Shields at Shields’ Houston gym.

“After the Trout fight, I just got right back into the gym because I wasn’t satisfied, either,” Charlo said. “I got right back into the gym and kept quiet. I’ll let my trainer judge me as far as how I’m looking. But my core’s real sharp, I feel real sharp, I feel real strong, my mind frame is real solid. I’m really just focused on me. I’m just ready to go fight fire with fire, go to war, whatever the situation may be. Whatever happens, I’m ready to adjust. Whatever angle I have to work from, we’ll be able to do that.”

The Charlo-Williams showdown will be the first of two live fights Showtime will televise Saturday night from USC’s Galen Center, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Showtime’s tripleheader is set to start with a replay of the Anthony Joshua-Eric Molina heavyweight title fight. England’s Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) and Molina (25-3, 19 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, are scheduled to fight for Joshua’s IBF heavyweight title Saturday in Manchester, England (Showtime; 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT).

The main event at Galen Center is a 12-rounder that’ll match Argentina’s Jesus Cuellar (28-1, 21 KOs), the WBA world featherweight champion, against Abner Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs), a former three-division champion from Downey, California.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.