By Ryan Burton

Later tonight, undefeated super welterweight prospect Julian "J-Rock" Williams will return to the ring against rugged Argentine Luciano Cuello (35-3) at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Penn. The fight will be televised on FoxSports1.

In this Q&A, BoxingScene.com talks to Williams trainer Stephen Edwards about the upcoming fight and also about the recent back and forth social media chatter between Williams and former champion Austin Trout.

BoxingScene.com: There has been a lot of talk between your fighter Julian Williams and Austin Trout.  So much so that their Twitter war of words was even more publicized when Trout told Julian "This is how you do it son" when he stopped Joey Hernandez on national TV.  Julian has since responded to which Trout responded again.  What is your take on the situation? 

Stephen Edwards: First off I want to say congratulations to Trout and his team. Barry Hunter and Boog have him looking really good. That's the best I have seen him look in his 4 fight win streak. My take on the situation is Trout and J-Rock are competitors - both of them look at each other as food. They are in the same division and with the same people, a fight is inevitable. Fighters are competitive so I don't give it much thought. My job is to get Julian ready for his opponent in front of him.

BoxingScene.com: Were there ever any negotiations for a fight with Trout? I know you guys are preparing for a tough fighter in Luciano Cuello of Argentina but Julian has wanted this fight for a long time.

Stephen Edwards: Well here is the thing, pride rules boxing. People will say one thing in public and another in private. I was asked almost a year ago would I take a fight with Trout. I said yes. Early this year I thought we had the fight and we started hiring southpaw sparring. The next thing I know I was told we wouldn't be fighting Trout. We kept the southpaws because we fought Joey Hernandez. After Julian stopped the Russian kid on the Deontay Wilder undercard, he mentioned Trout because his name kept being brought up to us but the fight never materialized.

We thought we would fight Trout again for this September fight but again it didn't happen. As a team we couldn't understand why Trout needed to fight Joey Hernandez in order to fight Julian. But I suspect he needed more time with his new coaches and his confidence was a little bit shaky because he  struggled with Daniel Dawson and Luis Galarza.

I understand that and Trout has to do what's best for Trout. There's nothing wrong with being a smart businessman. But at the same time he shouldn't lie to the public and the media. He has put off J-Rock for about a year now privately but publicly he acts like he's doing Julian a favor by entertaining a fight with him. Trout is not a "shot caller". He's the one who has been slid a favor. How many ex-world champions do you know that can get 4 comeback fights against the guys he's been fighting? He should be thankful that he wasn't thrown to one of the young guns in Haymon's stable like a J-Rock, or one of the Charlo twins, or Chris Pearson or Terrel Gausha. They did him a favor, he's not doing us a favor. Look at a guy like Chris Algieri. He had to fight Pacman and Khan back to back.

Sometimes fighters get a warped sense of themselves. Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez are shot callers. Not Austin Trout. Floyd did Berto a favor when he called his number. Pacman did Chris Algieri a favor when he called his number. Canelo did Lara a favor when last year he took him out of the Ishe Smith fight. Even Ishe understood what was going on. Cotto did Delvin Rodriguez a favor when he fought him on HBO. Austin Trout is not in that league as far as star power. He's not doing us any favors. Julian wants to be champion of the world. He doesn't have to fight to Austin Trout. Trout is just a guy we accepted that turned us down.

BoxingScene.com: Your fight with Cuello is just days away and I know the focus is on him but Trout said that Williams "can be next." With all that being said, do you intend to take him up on his offer assuming everything goes well with Cuello?

Stephen Edwards: It really depends Ryan. We have to sit down with the powers that be and see what's up. We want a title a shot. Julian is ranked by the IBF, WBA and WBC. He can fight Charlo for the title now that he beat K9, Erislandy Lara or somebody high in the WBC after Floyd vacates. It we are made to go through Trout in order to get a title shot then fine, but I'm not so sure that Trout wants to fight. What Julian won't do is be played like Amir Khan gets played by Floyd Mayweather. Floyd pulls Khan back and forth on a yo yo, because he knows he can. Khan takes off, waits around, thinks he's getting the fight then Floyd pulls the carpet from under his feet every time. Julian won't let Trout do that to him Ryan.  If we get offered a title shot then Trout can be his 1st defense. Julian won't let Trout control or dictate his destiny. They could have already fought.

BoxingScene.com: Trout has now won 4 fights in a row and like you said he seems to have gotten his rhythm back. How do you see the fight playing out.

Stephen Edwards: I don't publicly get into game plans. If I say how the fight will play out I will tip off my game plan. I will say this, there is a reason why the fight didn't happen already. There is a reason why Trout was willing to fight the Daniel Dawson's of the worlds and not Julian Williams. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. In all actuality he should have fought Julian last year because he wasn't as developed as he is now. Julian will win I will leave it at that.

BoxingScene.com: Trout has the name as a former champion that Julian needs on his resume.  What do you think a victory does for him at this point in his career?

Stephen Edwards: I think it would be a good notch under Julian's belt. Anytime you can defeat an ex-champion it's a good notch. What's ironic is Trout and Julian have defeated the same number of ex-world champions, which is 1.

I respect Trout, he has a solid victory over Cotto and that victory is looking better and better with each Cotto performance. But again Trout doesn't define Julian's career. Julian wants to be undisputed super welterweight champion of the world. While Austin Trout was putting the fight off Julian got ranked by The Ring, by the WBC, WBA, IBF and transnational board. He's even ranked by ESPN and BoxingScene now have him in their tops 10s. It would be solid a victory but Julian has his sights on a bigger fish and he will let it be known to the world, God willing after he defeats Lucian Cuello.

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