Julian Williams Eyes Title Shot By The End of 2015

By Francisco Salazar

Julian Williams has demonstrated he is a student of the fight game. He has passed every test with high marks in the ring.

While the exams may get harder in the future, best believe he is going to study, practice, and persevere in order to keep passing those exams.

He hopes to ace this test coming up this afternoon.

Williams will fight Joey Hernandez in a 10 round bout at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The fight could appear live on CBS at 3 p.m. ET/ 12 p.m. PT, depending on the duration of the Adonis Stevenson-Sakio Bika and the Artur Beterbiev-Gabriel Campillo bouts.

Williams (18-0-1 1 NC, 11 KOs) stopped Jamar Freeman in the eighth round of his last bout on December 20.

A number of boxing writers and insiders believe Williams is on the cusp of becoming a bonafide contender, something that could become a reality in 2015. While it may look easy, based on the wins and the manner he has won his fights, Williams can attribute that to the work he puts in the gym in his hometown of Philadelphia.

"The hard work is paying off," Williams told Boxingscene.com in a recent phone interview. "I'm blessed. (Trainer/adviser) Stephen Edwards pushes me. I feel ready. I'm blessed."

He will face a fighter in Hernandez who can box and punch. In his last bout on October 8, Hernandez stopped Jose Miguel Rodriguez Berrio in the seventh round. Prior to that bout, Hernandez lost a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision to Cornelius Bundrage.

The 30 year old Hernandez has a lot more pro experience and he is a southpaw. Those attributes may complicate matters for Williams, but he is unfazed and is confident he can go in there and get the job done.

"I'm taking this as any other fight," said Williams, who will turn 25 on Sunday. "I did my homework (on Hernandez) and we're going to stick to the game plan. I expect to come out on top."

Those are bold words coming from a young enough fighter who may or may not be in over his head. It is easy for a young fighter who is undefeated to cut corners and not train as hard. Or some fighters can overlook their opponents.

Not Williams. He understands the value of overlooking or underestimating opponents in the ring. The only blemish on his record is a six round draw against Francisco Santana in May of 2011. Williams won the first three rounds before Santana swept the last three.

It may be easier for unbeaten fighters to take easy fights in order to pad their record. Williams is the opposite, believing one could gain more in those fights.

"I take these fights to see where I'm at in my career. I don't want to fight tomato cans. I like getting in there (the ring) where you don't know the outcome."

"We just saw last Saturday (in Las Vegas) two fighters who were unbeaten or contenders and they lost. Ronald Gavril lost to Elvin Ayala and Cesar Seda lost to Cesar Juarez. They were in there tough and lost."

"I welcome the tough fights. I believe in fighting the better competition. I get better that way. I don't shy away from fighting the tougher competition. I've been fighting super tough guys like Francisco Santana my whole career."

Should Williams come out victorious today, look for him to get back in the ring again in the early summer. He would like to fight as often as possible and credits Edwards and Al Haymon to getting him where he is today.

"I would like to fight three more times where it could put me in the top 10 and get me a title shot later in 2015."

Williams is a competitive person and wished to get better with each fight. He may be hard on himself to where if things do not go his way, he will watch video with Edwards to correct those mistakes.

It is reassuring Williams is one of the young fighters at this stage of his career to take a pro active approach like this. Getting better as a fighter is no easy task, but Williams has taken it upon himself to put in the work and not be a flash in the pan.

"I'm a perfectionist. I may get the win, but I may be upset at myself because of what I did and didn't do. I study to improve and get better."

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing