Tough, Strong and Confident, Julian Williams Is a Boxing Star in the Making

Julian “J Rock” Williams will finally get a long-awaited shot at a boxing world title when he challenges Jermall Charlo for the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship December 10 as the co-featured bout on a Showtime card in Los Angeles.

The undefeated 26-year-old from Philadelphia isn’t the type of guy to pull his punches—inside or outside the ring—and has developed a reputation as one of the sport’s straight shooters. He’s candid about the sport, his career and his opponents.

He calls it how he sees it.

Charlo captured his 154-pound title by demolishing veteran Cornelius “K9” Bundrage last year. His calling card is that of a big puncher, but Williams understands that the only thing that matters is what happens on Saturday night.

“I think punching power is only relative to who you’re fighting. If he’s supposedly the puncher in this fight, but I can take his punch better than he can take mine, then I’m the puncher,” Williams told Bleacher Report. “I think punching power is a bit overrated.”

“He’s just a basic fighter. Got a good jab. Solid right hand. But it’s nothing that I haven’t seen it before.”

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Williams prides himself on being down to earth and maintaining a close and accessible relationship with fans and media. He frequently engages with his supporters (and even some who don’t support him) on social media.

He does that because he never wants to become like the fighters who get a taste of success and then become stuck up, forgetting where they came from and the people who buy the tickets and watch the fights that keep them in business.

That business can easily corrupt.

Williams believes that the “business of boxing” is responsible for a lot of the problems that plague the sport. That includes—perhaps most notably—fighters being reluctant to take on tough assignments.

He refuses to be one of those guys.

“When I get a world title, I’m still going to want to fight the best. The reason that guys are scared to fight the best is the way boxing is set up now is that you’ve got to be 25-0 to be considered a good or an up-and-coming fighter,” Williams said.

“You get a loss and you’re overrated. You get two and your career is done. It makes guys a bit apprehensive about taking big fights. Not everyone is going to be Floyd Mayweather and be 49-0. The business side makes it hard for guys coming up who take a loss.”

Williams' hunger comes from his life experiences growing up in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia boxing scene has a rich and deep history.

But like most major cities, the City of Brotherly Love has its share of problems.

It’s not unusual to hear of professional boxers seeing their introduction into the sport come as a way to get them off the streets and keep them out of trouble. It’s a quite common story, actually.

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Williams used to watch some boxing while he was kid, but he spent most of his time outdoors engaging in a different type of fighting. One where the compensation is nonexistent and the long-term prospects bleak.

“I used to street fight a lot. I wasn’t like kids today who stay in the house and play video games. I was always outside getting into stuff,” Williams said. “When you grow up in the place I grew up at—in the inner city—outside a bunch, you’re going to get into fights.”

“There’s a lot of bullies. A lot of kids in the neighborhood. And one day someone took me to the boxing gym.”

The boxing gym is where Williams has found success.

He’s unbeaten in 23 professional fights.

The lone blemish came in a 2011 draw against Francisco Santana in just his seventh professional fight.

Most people in the know seem to think that he’s one of the brightest young competitors in the sport today. He’s mentally tough, physically strong and supremely confident in his own abilities.

J-Rock—by every indication—is the real deal, and he plans on showing that to Charlo and the rest of the sport in his first opportunity at the big time.

“I’m predicting a win. I don’t call knockouts. I can call a win. I trained really hard. Jermall is a good fighter, but I’m going to have more on December 10. I believe I’ve shown more over the course of both our careers.”

All quotes obtained firsthand.