What’s Next For Julian Williams?

What’s Next For Julian Williams?

By Sina Latif

Julian “J-Rock” Williams (27-2-1) had shocked previous unified super-welterweight champion Jarrett Hurd in Hurd’s hometown title defence at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia to become the new WBA, IBF and IBO unified champion.

Williams’ first title defence last week was meant to be a hometown celebration of his own in Philadelphia, his first fight on home soil in eight years. Jeison Rosario (20-1-1) was the opponent for an expected homecoming victory lap. Except the fight didn’t go as planned.

Rosario won, and in his first world title fight, the Dominican won convincingly, causing the first big upset of 2020. Williams was stopped in the fifth round after being unable to contain his opponent all night, picking up a cut in the second round.

When Williams was asked in the post fight interview what’s next for J-Rock, the Philadelphian replied:

“We’ve got a rematch clause. We’ll see him again real soon.”

Williams should opt for the immediate rematch. He is only 29 years old and not past his prime by any means. However, there is also not much time for J-Rock to go back to the drawing board and challenge for the titles at a later stage down the line once he has sharpened up his tools. He is not getting any younger.

Nevertheless, just because Williams stated immediately after the fight that he wishes to have an instant rematch, it does not necessarily mean this will happen. Then again, if not Rosario, who would Williams fight?

The likes of Jermell Charlo, Hurd, Erislandy Lara, Brian Castano, Tony Harrison and Erickson Lubin can all fight and none would be an easy outing for Williams. As already shown, this 154 lbs division is as open as can be, with anyone capable of beating any other fighter on any given night.

If Williams does not seek revenge on Rosario to redeem his loss, who knows where the belts could end up?

Rosario showed against Williams that he is clearly not a guy that should be taken lightly, but he is also a fighter who was stopped in six rounds by Nathaniel Gallimore, who isn’t exactly a high-calibre fighter and is a man who has previously been beaten by Williams.

If the rematch does not take place, perhaps Rosario would unify against Charlo, and judging by their careers thus far, Rosario is a vulnerable titleholder, and if Charlo was to win, Williams would be unable to win his belts back from the man who took them away from him.

The key for Williams is to have his next fight made official soon and avoid inactivity again. The Philly fighter was out of the ring for eight months after winning the titles against Hurd, which is quite a long time. After his brilliant shock victory against Hurd, ideally Williams should have been in the ring sooner.

This was not necessarily Williams or his teams’ fault, as understandably, and admirably, they insisted that their opponents must be signed up for VADA testing, which upon enrolment onto the programme, consisted of the opponents completing a minimum of 90 consecutive days of monitoring. If the opponent is unwilling to do so, there would be no fight.

Whatever the next move is for Williams, whether it be a rematch or another fight, he must try to get back in the ring as soon as possible.

The type of competitor Williams is, the likelihood is that his desired immediate rematch will take place.

Though no easy task, Williams can show he possesses a true champions heart, just like Anthony Joshua recently displayed in his immediate rematch victory against Andy Ruiz Jr to regain his heavyweight belts, and just like Charlo recently showed against Harrison to avenge his shock loss and regain his WBC belt.

Perhaps fate dictates that soon after Charlo avenged his loss to Harrison, Williams would be the victim of a shock defeat in order to avenge his own loss on a collision course between Williams and Charlo.

Williams has history with the Charlo twins. Jermell’s brother, Jermall, was the first man to inflict a pro career defeat on Williams prior to moving up to middleweight.

It may be destiny that Williams battles Jermell in a huge unification bout down the line once both men have proved their true champion’s grit and heart to battle back from adversity.

Williams has already shown this grit by recovering from his devastating knockout loss to Jermall in his first world title shot, which could derail many fighters, and racked up four straight wins before upsetting Hurd, and now is the time to show that same heart again.

It is times like this which will determine whether he has the potential to leave a legacy behind like other great Philly fighters of the past such as Joe Frazier and Bernard Hopkins, or just be another almost-ran. A fighter who had a single great night to become champion, and was subsequently unable to mount any successful defences. Another one-hit wonder.