JULIAN WILLIAMS DISCUSSES POTENTIAL SHOWDOWN WITH JERMALL CHARLO: "HE'S GOT THE BELT AND I GOTTA BEAT HIM"
By Percy Crawford | May 26, 2016
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PC: The junior middleweight division was on center stage Saturday night. What did you think of the fights?
JW: I feel like it was solid. Nobody oversurprised me or undersurprised me. It turned out sort of like I expected. Everybody that I thought would win won.
PC: Is it more of a reality for you now that you're going to be fighting for the world title and Jermall Charlo said he's staying back or are you still not getting too excited about it?
JW: Nah, not yet. I try not to think about it, man. I'm just waiting for it to be a go.
PC: So there will be no fight in between you and that IBF title fight, correct?
JW: Nah, hopefully it's Jermall Charlo next. The IBF wouldn't want a fight in between because they don't want to get their rankings messed up. God forbid I get beat or something like that because they would have to change their rankings all over again, so they just want me to sit tight until September.
PC: Are you taking it easy right now or kind of in and out of the gym right now?
JW: I'm not going to change anything. We always work hard in the gym and come up with new, innovative stuff to push my body to new limits. Right now, I'm in the gym every day doing light calisthenics and a lot of road work and stuff like that to keep my body up. As soon as I get an official date, I'll turn it all the way up with the sparring and stuff like that. I'm taking it kind of easy, but I'm still working at the same time.
PC: He's pretty big for the weight class. You don't have to reveal names or anything, but do you have some guys in mind who you want to bring in for sparring to prepare for Jermall?
JW: Yeah, definitely. He's really not that big. He's about 6'0" tall. I wouldn't consider him that big. I definitely got some names in mind I want to bring in for sparring and hopefully everybody is available and can come out. I probably won't be able to get everybody I want; that's just how it goes. It never goes that smooth, but hopefully we're able to get most of the guys that we want to bring in.
PC: This fight has been brewing for some time now. During the lead up to his fight with Austin Trout, there was a lot of talk of him moving up to 160. Were you ever concerned that he would move up and that you wouldn't have the opportunity to face him?
JW: I can't worry about what he putting in his body or if he had grown out of the division or not. I know I can make the weight and I know I'm the mandatory challenger, so whether or not he decides to stay or not, I'm still fighting for the world title. Listen Perc, for me, it's mostly about being a world champion than beating Jermall Charlo. It just so happens that he's got the belt. If anybody else had the belt, I would be going at them. I'm not really obsessed with fighting him, but he's got the belt and I gotta beat him and that's what I plan on doing.
PC: I know you don't get caught up in the hype too much, but you had to be pleased with the exposure you got on Showtime, and it was a good interview they did with you.
JW: Yeah, definitely. It's a great thing and I was able to get a little bit of practice at what I hope to be in my second career. It was definitely a good thing. It gave me a lot of exposure and you could never have too much exposure and I appreciated that. I appreciate Showtime for doing that a whole lot.
PC: You had an up close and personal look at 6 junior middleweights on Saturday night. When you break them all down individually, what's your thoughts on the breakdown of the division?
JW: Man, I think it's the most stacked division in boxing and they have a lot of guys coming up. It's a lot of guys in front of me and it's a lot of guys in the back of me and that's why I gotta do my job of keeping it moving. If you don't, you'll end up fighting a guy that's like 12-0. It's a real stacked division. Everybody always talk about 47 being stacked. I don't know too many prospects at 147 pounds right now. It's top heavy and there are a lot of contenders; Shawn Porter's and Keith Thurman's, Danny Garcia and Andre Berto. But there are no 13 to 14-0 147-pounders who you have to keep an eye on. It's like 3 of those guys at 54. I think the 54-pound division is the deepest in boxing.
PC: You said the results went the way you expected, but when you watched Jermall Charlo in particular, was there anything new with him? Any surprises?
JW: I ain't gonna lie, I thought he would knock Trout out. I really did and I was surprised that he didn't and I was surprised that he wasn't able to visibly hurt him because Trout gets knocked down in every big fight that he has, and in some of the small fights he's had too he's been knocked down. I was surprised that he didn't hurt him. Everything that I felt about Jermall came to light in that fight.
PC: You said you don't see him as a big 154-pounder, so sizing him up, I take it you don't even feel his size is an advantage for him.
JW: I think I'm a big 54-pounder. I'm 5'11" and there is not a big difference between 5'11" and 6'0". His reach is 73" and my reach is 73", so he slightly bigger. How about this, he just has a harder time making weight than me. Vanes is a big junior middleweight. Let me tell you something, man, it's going to be what it's going to be. If he can make the weight, then we going to fight. I don't give a shyt how big they say he is.
PC: I didn't see many people who had Trout winning the fight, but I did see a few people felt it could have been a draw. How did you score it?
JW: I saw a couple of people say Trout won, couple of people say it was a draw, but any time you have a fight that close, you can't really complain if it goes the opposite way. It could go either way by one or two points. But I always go by the crowd and the crowd was booing. But another thing is fans only remember the last thing they see. The last thing they saw was Trout outboxing him and landing shots going down the stretch. They forget about the first couple of rounds where Jermall was beating the shyt out of him.
PC: You have to score 3-minute individual rounds and not just one big fight.
JW: Yes, you got it.
PC: There were a lot of good fighters on the card and great matchups, but would you say anyone stood out to you?
JW: I don't think anyone did and that's why I want to get this fight to separate myself. There's no clear-cut great fighter at 154 pounds. I'm not including Cotto. I think Canelo is on the verge of being a great fighter despite all of the bullshyt he's doing with trying to duck Triple G. I really think Canelo got a shot of being great. He's flawed, but he's a great fighter. We're all flawed, nobody is perfect, but there is no clear-cut best 54-pound fighter in the world. I want to separate myself from these guys because I believe I am the guy I just need the opportunity. It's funny because fans will say, "You ain't fight nobody. You don't deserve an opportunity because you ain't fight nobody." But then when I want to fight people, they say, "Well, who did you fight?" You can't have it both ways. Which one is it? I don't deserve an opportunity because I ain't fight nobody, but when I want to fight people, you say who did I fight? So who should I fight? It's just crazy, but nevertheless, I'm the mandatory challenger for the IBF title and I don't give a shyt what nobody says. I'm fighting for a world title in my next fight and I'm going to be a world champion.
PC: I look forward to it. Hopefully it comes off in September and keep me posted on everything. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
JW: I just want all of my fans to stay patient and I will keep you posted on everything and watch it because it's going to be a pretty exciting fight.
JULIAN WILLIAMS DISCUSSES POTENTIAL SHOWDOWN WITH JERMALL CHARLO: "HE'S GOT THE BELT AND I GOTTA BEAT HIM" || FIGHTHYPE.COM