By Ryan Burton

On December 10th the eagerly anticipated showdown between IBF super welterweight champion Jermall Charlo (24-0) and #1 ranked challenger Julian "J Rock" Williams (22-0-1). The fight takes place on December 10th at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles and will be televised by Showtime.

In this Q&A, Williams' trainer Stephen "Breadman" Edwards breaks down the fight and the difficulty in the making the fight come to fruition.

BoxingScene.com: What's up Bread?  We are less than two months away from the highly anticipated showdown against Jermall Charlo.  What are your thoughts on the fight finally actually happening?

Stephen Edwards: I'm level headed about it Ryan. Obviously you feel lots of different emotions but we still have a job to do. And the job is to win.

BoxingScene.com: The reason why I say finally actually happening is because we had heard prior to his most recent fight against Austin Trout that Jermall might be moving up to 160. His trainer Ronnie Shields had also said that they would probably move up and that Julian wasn't going to dictate anything in making the fight.  Then we heard contradictory statements l just prior to the Trout fight where Jermall said that it wasn't as hard to make 154 as he had said before and that he would fight Julian.  Then of course the fight was pushed back because of Lasik surgery and while this was happening Jermall sent out a series of tweets saying something like this is a super fight and he needs to be richly compensated.  What is your take on this? 

Stephen Edwards: We are in the age of the internet and social media so lots of times the opposing team can play mind games on you indirectly with things they want you to see. I heard he got Lasik surgery after the Trout fight. There is nothing wrong with that, I had Lasik surgery myself. The discrepancy was when he got it. From my understanding he got it earlier than he actually reported it.  All I cared about was getting a solid date for Julian. All I wanted was the rules to be enforced so we could know exactly when we were fighting. It's not fair to the fighter to be up in the air on when he's fighting, especially in a mandatory spot that he earned. Because Julian was the mandatory and Charlo was already allowed an exemption to fight Trout, we were told that the fight would take place 90 days after the Trout fight which is the IBF rule. We were just going by that. When the 90 day mark started approaching and no fight was announced common sense kicked in and we knew something wasn't right. But you know everything happens for a reason, it's water under the bridge. I'm just glad and thankful the IBF and our teams collectively came to an agreement and the fight was finally made.

You know the one thing that stood out to me is they always talk about Charlo's weight. It's like if an athlete who injures his knee keeps talking about it. It becomes part of the subconscious and it can be counterproductive. Austin Trout, who has an experienced team and he's been around himself had to read and hear the same stuff we do. Charlo even talked about his weight at the prefight press conference of the Trout fight. So what did Trout do. He took him in deep waters and almost drowned him. That fight could have been a draw. Trout also kept digging  to Charlo's body. Fighters who have trouble making weight don't like it to the body because they eat more and drink more to replenish. You can't get an IV anymore so...

I also know people from Wilky Campfort's team. They told me they didn't think Charlo did the second day weigh in like he was supposed to. He looked like a monster vs Campfort. I know Trout's team has too much experience to allow something like that to go down. In the Trout fight Jermall didn't look like a monster. Maybe it's a coincidence maybe it's not. We are going to find out Dec.10th.

BoxingScene.com: I think Charlo and Williams are both great fighters but with all due respect they both still have a lot to prove and while this is a great fight, it definitely isn't Leonard vs. Hearns in terms of significance.  Do you think those tweets were sent so that he would have a way out of the fight if he ultimately decided not to accept?

Stephen Edwards: (Laughing) Man I wish Julian was making a million dollars for this fight. The more money he makes the more money I make. But reality is he's a couple of fights away from that. As for Jermall I can't speak on what he's making and why he put that stuff on social media. From what I understand he removed it off of his social media and he received a little backlash from the fans. Who knows Ryan? He's a young guy, people say things it's no biggie. There is a lot of pressure on both of these kids for this fight and under pressure you say and do things. I did find it interesting that he didn't make those demands versus Austin Trout and Trout was an ex world champion.

BoxingScene.com: Speaking of trainers, Shields is obviously a proven great trainer.  He has never really seemed to keen on having his guy fight Julian.  Do you think he sees something in Julian's style that he believes will present a problem for Jermall?

Stephen Edwards: Both fighters have fought on the same cards several times and both have been on TV at least 10 times. So both teams realize it's a tough fight where either kid can leave the ring not the same as he entered it. But Ronnie Shields has been up against more accomplished fighters than Julian Williams. I don't get big headed when it comes to stuff like this, we have a long way to go. Shields worked the corners of Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Pernell Whitaker in some huge fights. He's a Hall of Fame trainer. I really don't know who is directly responsible for delaying the fight but I wouldn't put it all on Ronnie Shields. That's a question for Jermall Charlo.

BoxingScene.com: The fight is in Los Angeles in neutral territory.  That seems very fair for this fight.  Which fighter do you think will have more support from the crowd?

Stephen Edwards: I love that this fight is in LA. The California Commission is one of the best in the country. We fought in Cali 4 times early in Julian's career. The Commission there has always been great. We do part of J Rock's camp in California. California has the best fans in boxing. They love Julian. They actually nicknamed him El Lobo. The Mexican fans turned on Hugo Centeno when we fought him and Julian gets all kinds of request to send autographed merchandise out to Cali all the time. I have no idea what kinds of fans Charlo will bring but J Rock has tons of California fans. I think Charlo made a mistake in not taking our offer to fight him in Houston at the end of 2015 after we beat Lucian Cuello. Charlo would have definitely had the crowd advantage but he decided not to.

BoxingScene.com:  Anything else you want to let the fans know?

Stephen Edwards: I think the fans should really support this fight. This is a fight between two talented 26 yr old fighters in their primes. Their styles mesh well. Both can box, both can punch and neither has ever been dropped or stopped. The winner of the this fight turns into a star the next day. This is a hardcores fans dream fight.

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