Julian Williams' Coach Confident in Possible Jarrett Hurd Clash

By Steve Kim

Julian Williams scored a decisive twelve round victory over the brash Nathaniel Gallimore, in a Showtime televised fight which took place last Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

It's his third consecutive victory since losing to then IBF world champion Jermall Charlo in December of 2016.

It was an outing that pleased Williams' head trainer, Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards.

"You never know how a guy's going to react off of his first stoppage defeat. It's messed up a lot of kids careers and you're dealing with social media and people having opinions constantly. It's not easy to come back from that," Edwards told BoxingScene.com.

"It's not easy to come back from that. I figured that it would take about three or four fights and a lot of people were picking Gallimore against him saying he was facing a puncher, 'Gallimore's a killer'. Gallmore even became the betting favorite."

But as this fight went on it was the experience and seasoning of 'J-Rock' that was evident. Williams improved to 25-1-1 (15 KO's) in winning by the tallies of 116-112, 117-110 and 114-114.

Edwards states - "I definitely think he's back, I'm very proud of his performance. Technically it could've been a little bit better, I thought he should've gotten the stoppage but he walked down the guy who was supposed to be a killer. So I was real impressed with that."

Williams-Gallimore was an IBF 154-pound eliminator. Currently that title is held by 'Swift' Jarrett Hurd, who unified that belt with the WBA, IBO straps by defeating Erislandy Lara in the Showtime televised main event on Saturday.

Edwards says that they would be more than willing to face Hurd next if the opportunity arises.

"I didn't pick who we would be the eliminator for, but you don't turn down an eliminator. It means you want to fight for a world title but I think Jarrett Hurd is a terrific fighter, I have nothing but respect for him and his team. He's improved as much as any kid I've ever seen. I actually seen him fight a couple of years ago. He's really an improved fighter. He has some of the best conditioning in boxing, has a great chin. He does a lot of little clever stuff and we have a hell of a fight on our hands," Edwards said.

"I know most people are picking against Julian and I know Hurd would open as a big betting favorite but I'm confident in my guy. We get the fight - I'm taking it. But I'm telling you this - we will have to do VADA (random drug testing)"

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.