Julian Williams: “It’s not about enjoying, it’s about winning.“
Julian Williams is preparing to fight Jieson Rosario on January 18th. Williams and his team held an open workout for media and fans ahead of his title defense next weekend.
Williams is not letting fighting in his hometown get to him. He thinks that fighting at home is especially dangerous as the celebrity can get to you.
“I try to just block myself from the world. Especially with a hometown fight, people are pulling you 50 different ways, tickets, asking me stupid questions. It’s crazy, so I just try to block myself from the world.”
Julian Williams says his camp isn’t about fun. Becoming champion required hard work and it requires even harder work to stay champion.
“It’s not about enjoying, it’s about winning. I don’t care about enjoying. You’re not supposed to enjoy camp. It’s supposed to be a grind.”
Don’t expect Williams to sleep on Rosario. He knows he still has to go out and execute. But Julian Williams knows it shouldn’t be a hard night at the office for him.
“Rosario brings ambition to the table. I think he’s an ambitious kid. I don’t think it’s a difficult fight (for me), to be quite honest. I just think it’s a matter of being focused and on top of my game, and I think I’ll take care of him. I don’t think it’s difficult, though. He’s a decent fighter. We’re not going to make him out to be Ray Robinson.”
Williams acknowledges Rosario’s win streak however. He’s ready for a tough fighter none the less.
“He has put together a good string of wins, and he’s tough and he’s coming to win. So that’s more important than anything. He has the ambition to win, so you can’t underestimate him.”
Julian Williams and Philadelphia
Williams credits his success to the poverty he endured in West Philadelphia. He says seeing and growing up in that environment brought him to where he’s at today.
“Seeing all the stuff that I saw growing up (in West Philadelphia) made me hungry, made me want to get out and make a better life for myself. All you have to do is walk outside and go down Lancaster Ave. If that’s not motivating for you then nothing will.”
Williams is a star now. That’s not affecting his mindset as a boxer however. He still has his goals in mind and will continue to strive to achieve them.
“I’ve got a little more notoriety now. To be honest, I stopped thinking about it because I want to stay focused on the task at hand. The task at hand is being pound-for-pound best in the world. I’m not satisfied with just being the best junior middleweight in the world. I’m just not satisfied with being unified champion of the world. Why sell myself short when I have the drive and the ability to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world? I’d be selling myself short. I’d be leaving millions of dollars on the table.”
Now Williams knows his place in history “I’m one of three men (from Philadelphia) who can say they’re a unified champion of the world.”
Stephen Edwards, Williams’ Trainer
Stephen Edwards is weary of Rosario. He knows anyone can win on any given night.
“At this level, everybody can fight. (Rosario) is a good-looking dude. He can punch. He’s just a good fighter. He’s got a lot of the same characteristics as Hurd and Charlo. He’s big and strong. It’s a good fight.”
Originally, Williams and his team wanted to fight Jarrett Hurd again. “We thought we were going to be fighting Hurd (again), so we got a guy that’s kind of like Hurd because we didn’t know if Hurd was pulling out of the fight.”
Edwards is also helping Williams on business choices too. He’s happy that they have wiggle room to make mistakes now that he’s a champion.
“If (Julian) buys a house I’ll tell him if that’s a good property, or sometimes he messes up, but the cool thing is that he’s got the money to make up for all the mistakes now.”
