By Jake Donovan, photo by Ryan Greene/PBC
It’s barely a week from fight night – the biggest fight of his career, in fact – but just another day in the office for Julian “J-Rock” Williams as he wraps up his latest gym and sparring session.
Counting down the days to his first career title shot versus defending champ Jermall Charlo, the unbeaten contender from West Philadelphia is already firing on all cylinders without having to make any drastic changes in training camp.
“The only real difference in this camp is that I’m more mentally focused,” Williams (22-0-1, 14KOs) told BoxingScene.com following a recent sparring session. “Usually it's a fight for me to take my vitamins and supplements and all that. This camp, I did it by myself and it showed. I always do the right things with boxing, but for this camp, I definitely went the extra mile.
“Usually I'm focused on losing them five more pounds, but this camp it's been a different mindset. I never truly worry about making weight, but this camp has been all about focusing on our game plan and just getting the job done.”
‘The job’ will take place at the Galen Center on the campus of USC in Los Angeles, California, but make no mistake; Williams is bringing all of Philadelphia into the ring. The presence may not be felt in the crowd, but he carries his fighting-rich city with him every time he steps through the ropes. This time around, there exists even greater motivation.
Despite the many champions that have been produced city-wide, just one has hailed from West Philadelphia – Gary Hinton, although there is a dispute as to whether or not he truly represents the region.
“We hear he’s from Darby (in southwest Philadelphia),” Williams points out. “So that would make me the first if so. But if they want to consider him a West Philly fighter, I’m OK with being the second.”
Hinton required two tries to accomplish the feat. The southpaw came oh so close in a March 1985 thriller with the late, great Aaron Pryor, fading late and dropping a spirited split decision in what would serve as the final fight of Pryor’s lengthy 140 lb. title reign.
The second time was a charm, scooping up the vacant belt via 15-round decision win over Reyes Cruz in April ’86 on the road in Italy. His title reign was one and done, suffering a 10th round knockout loss to Joe Manley later that October.
Williams doesn’t want to look any farther down the road than December 10, but will head into the Showtime-televised title fight with a virtual supporting staff of a home region in desperate need of a feel-good story.
“It will bring some notoriety to this city, not just to West Philly,” Williams notes. “There’s a lot of bad stuff surrounding us, but the good stories help bring the positive.”
Always around to ensure that Williams remains on the optimistic side – no easy task, considering the career-long difficulty in finding willing opposition to face him in the ring – is his long-time trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards.
There’s a 14-year gap in age between them but are akin to inseparable siblings. The journey together began in 2007 and they continue to learn from each other every day.
“I can't speak on everyone else's relationship, but that's my guy right there,” Williams says of his chief second. “Our relationship grew outside of boxing over the years. We don't sit around and just talk about my next fight. Every day we talk about life.
“I met him at a fight party held by my first trainer. He's related to my first... my former trainer. They like cousins. In the beginning. he was by our side. Next thing I knew we doing pads together. Next thing, we running together. Next thing I know, we training together.”
Edwards inherited a raw talent for his first major boxing client. Williams was a successful amateur on the local level (77-10 record overall) but without a true foundation or a proper diet. Once the physical part was into place, the rest has been about just keeping the boxer in the proper frame of mind. The business side of boxing is enough to wear down any man or woman alive, so job one becomes focusing on what can be gained by just remaining positive.
For most in Williams’ shoes, the challenge would be to overcome a nine-month layoff, as he’s been idle since a 6th round knockout of Marcello Matano this past March. But that fight came with the understanding that his next would be for a world title – but that “next” wouldn’t necessarily mean sooner rather than later.
“We don't get into stuff like that, don't bring in anything that leads to a negative mindset,” Edwards notes. “He's been through way more tougher things than having to be off for a little while, or some stuff that millionaires and billionaires are going to court over. That's none of our business. We're just training and focused on getting better.
“We don't get into that other stuff, we don't even talk about it, in fact. Bringing in that negative stuff, it's counterproductive and only gives you a mental weakness.”
Williams is aware enough to pick up on how it can affect any boxer. “(Previously unbeaten featherweight titlist) Nicholas Walters did just that a week ago. He went into that fight with (reigning 130 lb. titlist) Vasyl Lomachenko with a negative attitude. The moment things got rough he quit and when asked why he quit his reason was that he was off for a year.
“Now, his career is possibly ruined.”
As hard as it’s been for Williams to get the other top 154-pound boxers into the ring, he understands the importance of staying at the top now that he’s arrived on the title stage. The high-risk, low-reward boxers tend to struggle the most in finding steady work in this industry. Even with Al Haymon on board as an advisor, Williams – who turns 27 in April – had to fight long and hard both in and out of the ring in order to get Charlo into the ring.
Getting to this point meant remaining ready – physically and mentally – for whenever that call would come. It meant waiting out a WBC super welterweight tournament that - quite frankly - never materialized, which was just as well as it would've only put Williams' career on ice for that much longer. The proposed format called for up to four fights by the time he'd finally see a title shot, a rate of activity that - in today's climate - could have meant at least a two-year weight.
In going the route they chose - a one-fight eliminator for a shot at the IBF title - it also meant being prepared for facing someone other than Charlo, who was rumored to move up to middleweight ever since his narrow points win over Austin Trout in May.
“We always knew we'd be fighting for the IBF title,” Williams confidently states. “I didn't know for sure who it'd be against but I knew deep down we'd be fighting Charlo. It'd have been too blatant for him to just vacate - that'd just be like career suicide.”
Instead, Williams finds the one thing that has been missing throughout his career – a top-rated boxer in his division who’s willing to share ring space. It’s been a frustrating journey through six years as a pro, but one where he’s proudly charged forward, knowing that doing the little things also matter in the grand scheme of things.
“I've learned so much from Stephen and from so many others,” Williams proudly says. “I guess what I've learned the most in getting here is that no one lesson is bigger than another. It all matters.”
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2
