JULIAN WILLIAMS: "I'M COMING TO GET IT...THIS IS THE HURT BUSINESS AND PEOPLE WANNA BE ENTERTAINED"
By Percy Crawford | September 02, 2014
PC: September 11th, you're back in the ring. Tell us about it my man!
JW: Yeah man, I'm back September 11th on the FOX Sports card against the kid from Puerto Rico, Eliezer Gonzalez.
PC: Is there any footage out there of him for you to check out or will you have to make adjustments as you see what he brings to the table?
JW: There is not too much film that's out on the guy. They sent me a tape, but it was from early in his career, so I really couldn't take too much from it. But I have an extensive amateur background, so I'm not too concerned. I'll just go in there and adapt and get the job done.
PC: You've headlined many shows here recently and have been televised a lot. Do you see it as a disadvantage when you're facing guys that don't have a lot of footage for you to watch on them?
JW: Yeah, they have a lot of tape on me, but I don't have any tape on them, but I don't think it's a disadvantage because if you look at my resume and you look at his, I've fought way better competition than he has, so I'm well prepared from the experience I've had in previous fights. I'll be ready for sure.
PC: You have been featured a lot on cards that lead up to the big event, a Mayweather show. That exposure and experience to start off a big fight week has to be invaluable.
JW: It's big, you know. Mayweather week is the biggest week in boxing and me being a part of those festivities is just a blessing and I'm gonna take full advantage of it.
PC: I've watched you grow as a fighter both in the ring and in popularity. What has that been like and what has the reception been like for you?
JW: The boxing community has been really receptive, man, especially the Mexican fans. I have a growing Mexican fan base. When I was out in Vegas a few weeks ago doing a promo shoot for Showtime and other things like that, I noticed a lot of Mexican fans wanted my autograph and wanted to take pictures and stuff like that, so I definitely have a growing Mexican fan base. Maybe it's from the Centeno fight, I don't know, but overall, fans have been really supportive of me.
PC: Although you are a smart fighter and defensively conscious, you do have a style that Mexican fans would appreciate, so maybe it's your style.
JW: Right. I think so too. If you look at my first fight on Showtime on January 15th, and I've been fighting on TV ever since, I don't think I've ever been in a boring fight. Every fight has been knockouts or multiple knockdowns and I think the fans appreciate it.
PC: You are one of the young fighters, and there are a couple of you guys, but you are one that fights with bad intentions. You're not in there fighting like you wanna protect your record or your face. You really fight with bad intentions.
JW: I'm coming to get it, you know what I mean. This is the hurt business and people wanna be entertained, but at the same time, you gotta be smart, so it's like a fine median in between. I wanna be smart and be able to speak to my children when I have some and I'm not trying to have brain damage or anything like that, but it's my job to be entertaining. And on top of that, the more knockouts you get, the bigger the checks get and I understand that. If TV don't buy my fights, then I won't make no money. I'm one of the fighters coming up that made a conscious effort to be entertaining and smart at the same time.
PC: Do you feel any pressure with each win to look a certain way or perform a certain way being that you are one of the hot young prospects in a pool of many young hot prospects?
JW: To be honest, I just always wanna be better than my last fight. I wanna be better than I was in my previous fight and that way, I know I'm headed in the right direction. I don't really try to out-due myself. I try to out-due my division, especially if I get a common opponent that someone else beat before. I want to out-due them.
PC: We've talked about it in the past, but the landscape of the 154-pound division is not only very talented, but also wide open.
JW: It's a lot of big fights in the division. I just gotta stay on my game and get through this year and by next year, they're gonna have some big fights in store for me; hopefully get a title shot. By the middle of next year, hopefully I'll be in a title fight. But even if it's not a title fight, there are a lot of big fights to make in this division because the majority of the fighters in the division that's good don't have a title. Floyd got two of the belts, so guys like Trout and Ishe Smith don't have a belt and they are good fighters. I think there are a lot of good fights to be made in the division, so I'm excited.
PC: It was a good look for you to help "Scooter" Fulton get signed to Al Haymon. He was very appreciative of it for sure.
JW: No doubt about it, but I'ma keep it 100 and say...I'm not gonna say I helped him; "Scooter" is a tremendous fighter and a two-time national champion. He's fought all over the world with the World Series of Boxing and putting in work for a long time. All I did was when they asked me, I told the truth, so I'm not gonna say I helped him out. I think Hamza Muhammad and Stephen Fulton did all the work and those guys train hard. I'm in the gym with them every day and they not in the gym playing around; they in there working hard. For the last 3 or 4 years, they have been putting in work and winning these national tournaments and going and winning fights overseas, so I can't take credit. All I did was tell the truth when they asked me a question. The truth is that that dude can go and I think being that he's gonna be turning pro at 122 pounds, he will be a world champion in the next 4 or 5 years. He got a gas tank, man. He's gonna be hard to slow down.
PC: Philly is hot right now on the boxing scene.
JW: I tell people all the time that the Philly boxing scene is rich right now. It reminds me of the 70's and 80's when it was predominantly Philadelphia fighters. Bryant Jennings is gonna get a title shot next year. Danny Garcia is already a world champion. You got Karl Dargan and Jesse Hart, who is undefeated, and I will probably get a title shot next year if I keep winning and winning impressively. We got a good crop of guys, and I don't mean a good crop of guys that can just fight, but guys that could eventually be world champions.
PC: I look forward to your fight as always and best of luck to you. Is there anything you want to add?
JW: Nah man, just follow me on Instagram at JRockBoxing and follow me on Twitter @JRockBoxing and Facebook at Julian Williams!
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