By Peter Lim

Prior to mid-2015, Austin Williams had never laced on a pair of boxing gloves. Basketball was the sport he excelled in through high school and he intended to continue to pursue his hoop dreams at the University of North Texas. But when it became clear in his freshman year that he would not advance past the university’s practice team, Williams decided to change course and put college on hold in lieu of a completely new sport.

“I said at these prime years and this young stage of my life I wanted to do something athletic and I had to really think of what I loved to do,” Williams said. “I always loved to fight. It was fun.”

Bypassing the novice and intermediate levels of competition, Williams, 22, dove straight into deep waters and began competing in the open divisions on the amateur circuit. In his three and a half years as an amateur, he compiled a record of 41-6. The Houston native has occupied the first or second ranking in the middleweight division over the last two years, making him a frontrunner for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team.

But his career again took a different turn early in 2019 when he decided to turn pro in lieu of seeking Olympic glory. In February, Williams signed with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing. Williams, a southpaw, is scheduled to make his prizefighting debut on April 26 at the Inglewood Forum in southern California.

“I didn’t want to get too used to the amateur style because my ultimate goal is to be undisputed in three different weight classes and I know with the late start, I’ve got to have all the time I can get to get the early fights out of the way,” Williams said.

The transition will be relatively seamless, Williams said, since his modus operandi has always been geared more towards the paid ranks. Dwight Pratchett, who trained him as an amateur, will remain his chief second in the pros.

“The style of this gym (Main Boxing Gym) is not an amateur style,” Williams said. “It’s definitely a slower-paced professional style. It’s actually harder for me to transition from the slower pace where I’m finding shots to the very fast, high-tempo, just-looking-for-points type of style because I’m surrounded by these professional guys and everybody’s knows I have more of a professional style.”

Although he was fast-tracked as an amateur, Williams has no delusions about following in the footsteps of Vasyl Lomachenko, Naoya Inoue, Oleksander Usyk and Guillermo Rigondeaux, boxers who were able to leapfrog the palooka and journeymen phases and delve straight onto the world stage as pros. 

“I’m still new. I’ve only been boxing for three and half years” Williams said. “I have to be humble and know that I have a lot of ability and potential but that still has to be built. I’m still a malleable fighter. I can learn a lot and I can change a lot and I still have a lot of things to really develop. I’m going to take my time.”

Although he competed at 165 pounds in the amateurs, Williams, standing six feet tall, anticipates campaigning at a lighter weight in the pros.

“I know I’m more than capable of making 154, and might actually try to make 147,” Williams said. “I’m still growing and my body’s still developing into a boxer’s body so I’m not going to strain myself too much.”

“Those are the best weight classes to be in in the sport of boxing, the pinnacle classes, because you get the speed and you get the power,” Williams added. “You start dropping to the ‘47s and the ‘40s, the ‘35s and the ‘30s, and you start seeing a lot of speed but not the pop. And then you go up into 68 and 75 and the cruiserweights and heavyweights and you see the speed’s not there but the power is. You meet at 54 and 60 and you get both (speed and power) so it’s always exciting for knockouts and things of that nature.”

Besides being a boxer, Williams inadvertently fell into the role of trainer. It was a month after he began boxing when all the trainers at his former gym abruptly quit at the same time. Williams was haphazardly wrangled in to teach the beginners’ class what he himself had barely learnt.

“I had to double learn,” Williams said. “I had to learn to teach people and I had to learn how to box myself. Teaching people constantly was like doing homework for myself and that’s what got my skills where they were so fast. By the time I was a top-level amateur I was pretty good at being able to teach people how to box from trial and error.”

Williams has continued to do double duty in the gym and his trainees now range from preteen beginners to professionals the likes of Rafael Igbokwe (12-1, 6 KOs). It forced him to spend countless hours online studying footage of multi-dimensional styles, techniques and strategies which has resulted in him becoming a more cerebral and versatile fighter.

“I’m definitely and adjuster,” Williams said. “Some fighters call for countering, some fighters call for punching to slow them down because they might be a speed demon, some fighters call for boxing. I don’t put myself in one category as a fighter. I have so much adjusting ability that whatever it takes to win the fight, whatever style I have to bring, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Williams cites Roy Jones Jr. as “hands down” his most influential role model in the sport. Since competing in one of Jones’ amateur tournaments, Williams has developed a friendship with the recently-retired future hall-of-famer. And like the former five-division world titleholder, he hopes to leave behind a legacy as prolific and enduring as Jones’.

“I shoot for the stars,” Williams said. “I want to be a three-time undisputed champion starting at 54, then 60 and 68. It’s going to take some time, it’s going to take some true dedication but that’s truly what I want to do.”