Carlos Adames claimed Thursday that he noticed Julian Williams shaking when Williams got off his chair to assure Adames he isn’t the least bit scared of him.
A laughing Adames also promised Williams that he has underestimated the type of beating the Dominican middleweight will put on him Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis. Williams was in no mood for Adames’ antics and thinks Adames and his handlers have greatly exaggerated his status as the most avoided, feared fighter in the 160-pound division.
Adames warned Williams that the former 154-pound champion has accepted a fight on which he should’ve passed.
“If I said that I am superior to him, that I’m better than him in every way, it’s because I mean it,” Adames stated during their press conference at W Minneapolis The Foshay, a hotel near The Armory. “Because I’ve been in the gym training really hard, with a spectacular team by my side. And, to me, Williams is just bait on a hook, ready to just be devoured by the big fish here. And he has no idea what he’s up [against] right now. He’s sitting there all comfortable and confident, when he should know that he’s sitting in a bad spot right now.”
Williams is an undeniable underdog against Adames. The Philadelphia native hasn’t beaten a championship-caliber opponent in four years, not since he upset then-undefeated Jarrett Hurd by unanimous decision to win the IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound championships in May 2019.
Another Dominican fighter, Jeison Rosario, overcame 30-1 odds to stop Williams in the fifth round of his first defenses of those titles in January 2020 at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. Williams lost his following fight as well – a 10-round split decision to another underdog, Vladimir Hernandez – in October 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Williams’ lone win since he defeated Hurd was an eight-round, unanimous-decision victory over Argentinean journeyman Rolando Mansilla (18-12-1, 8 KOs) on November 5 at The Armory.
Adames, meanwhile, has ascended since he lost unanimously to Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira in a closely contested 12-round fight for the WBO interim junior middleweight title in November 2019 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Adames is 4-0 since Teixeira beat him, including a third-round destruction of Mexican contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) in his last fight October 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Williams dismissed Adames’ contention that WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) and contender Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) have avoided him. Williams also stated that he has seen Adames tired and hurt, and that his capable opponent is hardly unbeatable.
“You’re behaving like a bastard right now because where’s Charlo?,” Adames asked. “Where’s Munguia? Like, do you see them here? No. And if you see me tired and you see me hurt, that’s because you have bad eyesight. I’m right here and I’m a hundred percent.”
Adames, 29, and Williams, 33, will fight for Adames’ WBC interim middleweight title in a “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event.
Junior middleweight contender Erickson Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs), of Orlando, Florida, will meet Milwaukee native Luis Arias (20-3-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC) in Showtime’s co-feature, a 10-round, 157-pound bout. Showtime’s coverage will begin at 9 p.m. EDT with a 12-round junior bantamweight championship clash in which Argentina’s Fernando Martinez (15-0, 8 KOs) will defend his IBF 115-pound crown against his mandatory challenger, the Philippines’ Jade Bornea (18-0, 12 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.