WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO junior middleweight Julian "J-Rock" Williams is gearing up for his planned world title defense against challenger Jeison Rosario Saturday, January 18 in the FOX PBC Fight Night main event and on FOX Deportes from Temple University's Liacouras Center.
Williams makes his first defense in his hometown for the first time since 2011.
"I try to just block myself from the world... Especially with a hometown fight, people are pulling you 50 different ways, tickets, asking me stupid questions. It's crazy, so I just try to block myself from the world. It's not about enjoying, it's about winning. I don't care about enjoying. You're not supposed to enjoy camp. It's supposed to be a grind," Williams said.
Williams is not overlooking the challenge of Rosario, but he expects to come away with victory with few issues.
"Rosario brings ambition to the table. I think he's an ambitious kid. I don't think it's a difficult fight (for me), to be quite honest. I just think it's a matter of being focused and on top of my game, and I think I'll take care of him. I don't think it's difficult, though. He's a decent fighter. We're not going to make him out to be Ray Robinson," Williams said.
"He has put together a good string of wins, and he's tough and he's coming to win. So that's more important than anything. He has the ambition to win, so you can't underestimate him."
Williams admits that he wants a lot more than just simply being the unified champion of the junior middleweight division.
"I've got a little more notoriety now. To be honest, I stopped thinking about it because I want to stay focused on the task at hand. The task at hand is being pound-for-pound best in the world. I'm not satisfied with just being the best super welterweight in the world. I'm just not satisfied with being unified champion of the world. Why sell myself short when I have the drive and the ability to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world? I'd be selling myself short. I'd be leaving millions of dollars on the table," Williams said.