By Thomas Gerbasi

At 24 years old, Julian Williams has been boxing half his life. That’s a lot of time to spend with gloves on when you think of the time spent sparring in boxing rings in his hometown of Philadelphia or fighting in countless other places as an amateur or professional.

But what about the other sacrifices, the ones that don’t show up on a win-loss record? Time spent away from family and friends, avoiding the “normal” life of a teenager or 20-something, and everything else that has to be given up in other to succeed at the highest levels of the sport. Williams has been through it all.

“I've been living boxing since I was about 12 years old and I never ventured off,” he said. “I always had my mind set on exactly what I wanted to be, and I had to basically give up everything.”

Williams pauses, then corrects himself.

“I didn't have to give up anything, because if all my dreams come true then it will all be worth it.”

That’s a lot of maturity to pack into just 24 years, but when you want to succeed bad enough, what most count as sacrifices are just a part of the job. And as Williams points out, it wasn’t like he was locked in the gym 24/7.

“I got to go to my prom, I got to eat candy if I wanted to. I didn't have nobody smack the candy out of my mouth. (Laughs) I just didn't do the typical things that the regular 15 or 16-year-old kids did because I was so focused on boxing. And it's paying off.”

It is, slowly but surely. Currently 17-0-1 with 10 knockouts and one no contest, Williams will seek an 18th victory this Saturday in Shelton, Washington when he faces Edgar Ortega (15-2, 10 KOs). It’s the fourth fight of a year in which he knocked out a former world title challenger (Freddy Hernandez) and a former NABF champion (Michael Medina), and handed a fellow prospect (Eliezer Gonzalez) his first pro loss. Not a bad 12 months, especially with the opportunity to win one more coming up on this weekend’s Showtime card.

“It was really exciting,” he said, of 2014. “I think I did really well this year and made my mark as a future contender for a junior middleweight title. It was a good, productive year.”

2015 is expected to be the big one though, the year in which Williams goes from prospect to contender. Some would say he’s already there, pointing to the fact that despite only 19 pro fights, he’s faced better competition than several of his more highly-touted peers. Williams admits with a laugh that such a path wasn’t crafted by design, but he hasn’t steered clear of it either.

“I don't think it was by design; I just think my team has a lot of confidence in me and they know what I can do. My trainer (Stephen Edwards) knows that we need certain fights to be ready for the championship level when we get there, and we don't want to take too soft of a road, then we get to the top and I can't handle it. I think everything turned out really well, because a lot of people think I'm ready now for the championship level.”

He might be, with IBF champion Cornelius Bundrage and WBO champion Demetrius Andrade the obvious names that pop up when you talk about titleholders Williams might be ready for should the opportunity arise. But has he seen everything that you need to see to be fully prepared for a world title shot? Maybe, but not exactly.
 
“I don't feel like I've seen everything, but I've seen enough to fight the top level,” he said. “I don't need to go through ten Laras, ten Andrades, three James Kirklands, to fight those guys. I think I've seen enough and I'm talented enough and I work hard enough to get the job done at the top level.”

He’s got the confidence, but he’s not cocky, and there’s a difference. A confident fighter will bite down on his mouthpiece and take on all comers. The cocky one will just talk about it. And there’s no room for cocky fighters where Williams comes from, something “J-Rock” is well aware of. He’s not like several young fighters who think Mike Tyson or Floyd Mayweather invented boxing. Williams knows that being a “Philly fighter” means something beyond a catchy tag, especially around a middleweight division where the names Bernard Hopkins, Willie Monroe, Bobby Watts, and Bennie Briscoe are the city’s Mount Rushmore.

“Philadelphia was always known throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s for the great middleweights, and then we capped it off with Bernard Hopkins,” Williams said. “Nobody ever in history did what he did at middleweight and then after middleweight. And I don't want to compete with those guys, but I want to make my mark. I want to make my mark on boxing history, but definitely Philly history first. I want to add on to the great tradition.”

He’s off to a great start, and in 2015, the world beyond Philadelphia may know his name.
 
“That's what I'm shooting for,” he said. “I don't want to wait until '16 to accomplish my dreams. If it was up to me, '14 would have been my year. But I had a good year, it was productive, and in '15 I'm looking to break out.”