It’s been more than eight years since the last time Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams has been able to fight in Philadelphia, but he has never stopped representing or investing into the only city he’s ever called home.

“They call this the City of Brotherly Love. It’s not so much brotherly love, but I’m not gonna sit here pointing fingers and talking bad,” noted Williams (27-1-1, 16KOs), a West Philly-born and bred boxer. “I love Philadelphia, that’s why I never leave. That’s why I never went nowhere.”

While having spent his career training in his hometown, Williams now brings the first defense of his unified junior middleweight title reign to familiar grounds. The occasion comes January 18, when he faces Dominican Republic’s Jeison Rosario (19-1-1, 13KOs), live on Fox from the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia.

It’s a role reversal from Williams’ last fight, where he traveled to the greater Washington D.C. area to challenge then-unbeaten and unified 154-pound king Jarrett Hurd, a local hero enjoying his own homecoming for the first time in nearly a decade. It ended in disaster for the hometown fighter, as Williams rose to the occasion in scoring an upset 12-round win in their Fight of the Year contender last May. 

A rematch was to come from the bout, only for Hurd to take his career in a slightly different direction. With that comes a voluntary title defense for Williams, who has now won five straight as he prepares for an upset-minded challenger in Rosario who is unbeaten in his last eight starts.

Williams’ presence is felt throughout Philadelphia every day, training locally and also buying back a piece of his beloved hometown through the earnings from each fight. Active in the local real estate market as the owner of several rental properties, the 29-year old is cognizant of what it takes to protect his investments both in and out of the ring.

“I got the belts, now everybody’s watching me,” notes Williams. “Everybody’s studying. Everybody’s game-planning. I gotta be on my Ps and Qs and be ten times better because it’s no secret no more. I’m the best in the world. I knew I was the best in the world for a long time but it’s not a secret no more. So, these other fighters are extremely motivated. They’re hungry as well. I gotta be prepared.

“For me to fight in Philadelphia, the chance to come back as a unified champion means everything. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of—not just for me, but all fighters. At least they should dream about becoming a world champion and bringing back a title fight to their hometown.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox