Although he’s won and lost some big fights, for Julian Williams, the biggest battle has always been the scales.

Since turning pro in 2010, the Philadelphia native drained himself to make the 154-pound junior middleweight limit. At the peak of his powers, Williams emerged as the man to beat following his lopsided victory over former unified champion, Jarrett Hurd.

With things seemingly falling into place, Williams attempted to make a homecoming title defense of his newly won IBF and WBA championships against Jeison Rosario. But while Williams’ supporters cheered at the top of their lungs initially, they were left speechless as Rosario would go on to starch the 32-year-old via fifth-round knockout.

From there, the career of Williams spiraled out of control, resulting in yet another defeat, this time at the hands of journeymen Vladimir Hernandez.

Having recharged his batteries, Williams opted to try his hand six pounds north. So far so good as Williams went on to outpoint Rolando Mansilla in his middleweight debut on November 5th. Prior to officially dipping his toe in the middleweight pool, Williams admits that he knew fighting at a higher weight class would do his body justice.

“I knew it would be comfortable,” said Williams to BoxingScene.com. “It’s easier to make the weight. I knew it would be comfortable. An extra six pounds is a big deal, I feel a lot better.”

Next up for the former unified champion at 154 pounds will be to continue acclimating himself to life against bigger men. Much like his time at the junior middleweight limit, Williams has his eyes set on facing the best that the middleweight division has to offer.

Currently, with the likes of Janibek Alimkhanuly and former rival, Jermall Charlo, clutching two of the four major world titles in the division, Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) would welcome showdowns against them. Nevertheless, even if Williams eventually dethrones both Charlo and Alimkhanuly, he won’t feel a complete sense of accomplishment. According to the newly instated middleweight contender, until he knocks a certain future Hall of Famer off his high horse, he won't be considered the king of the middleweight jungle.

“I’m not sure how far I am but I do think I’m gonna get a shot. I’m not sure against who but I’ll get a shot against somebody. GGG (Gennadiy Golovkin) is the top guy. He’s got the most belts, he got the biggest name, he got all the legacy that comes with him. I think he’s still the top guy.”

While the light at the end of his boxing tunnel draws near, Golovkin, 40, still holds both the WBA and IBF world titles. In his most recent outing, the hard-hitting star attempted to avenge his previous defeat at the hands of Canelo Alvarez by audaciously moving up to 168 pounds. Still, despite his ambitions, Alvarez easily outpointed a listless Golovkin.

Although his best days could be far behind him, Williams isn’t willing to summarily dismiss Golovkin’s greatness. In his view, while age has ostensibly caught up to him, Williams still considers him an all-timer.

“I don’t wanna say he slipped. I think he just got older. Father Time beats everybody but he’s a Hall of Famer, he’s a great fighter and I got a lot of respect for him.”