By Dan Ambrose: Carlos Adames weighed in at 159.6 lb on Friday for a defense of his WBC interim middleweight title against #13 ranked Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams at the weigh-in for their headliner this Saturday, June 24, at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The former IBF & WBA junior middleweight champion J-Rock Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) weighed 159.2 lbs. Adames vs. Williams event will be shown live on Showtime at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) is staying busy, still waiting for his title shot against WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who hasn’t been stripped despite two years of inactivity.
J-Rock Williams has lost two out of his last three fights since 2020. He did win his last fight against journeyman Rolando Wenceslao Mansilla, but his last victory against a quality opponent was way back in 2019 when he beat IBF/WBA 154-lb champion Jarrett Hurd by a twelve round unanimous decision in a grueling fight.
J-Rock hasn’t looked the same since that fight, as he lost his two titles in his first defense against Jeison Rosario by a fifth-round knockout in 2020 and then was beaten by the unheralded Vladimir Hernandez in 2021 by a 10 round split decision.
Junior middleweight Erickson Lubin weighed in at 157.6 lbs for his ten round fight against Luis Arias (20-3-1, 9 KOs). Arias weighed in at 155.8 lbs.
Lubin hasn’t fought since losing to Sebastian Fundora by a ninth round stoppage last year in April.
Complete weights for Showtime
Carlos Adames 159.6 vs. Julian Williams 159.2
Fernando Martinez 114.6 vs. Jade Bornea 115
Erickson Lubin 156.6 vs. Luis Arias 155.8
Caleb Truax 174.8 vs. Burley Brooks 174
Jerwin Ancajas 121.8 vs. Wilner Soto 120.8
Mickel Spencer 141.4 vs. Lyle McFarlane 141.4
“I’m not going to say too much but we don’t have no problem getting
in the ring with him, so I don’t know about nobody. As soon as I got called for the fight, I’m like, ‘yeah. “I don’t believe in all that stuff about not wanting to get in the ring,” said trainer Stephen Edwards to YSM Sports Media about him having no qualms about his fighter Julian Williams taking on Carlos Adames.
“I actually asked for Quran Davis. I’m not going to get into what was said. I don’t believe in that stuff. I don’t have no fighter that is picky like that. I don’t believe in that.
“It just got offered to me. He’s moving up,” said Edwards when asked why was this the right time for J-Rock Williams to fight Adames. “154 was a struggle. He was fighting at 154 his whole career. He’s 33 now. ‘Would you take the Adames fight? Yes.’ That’s it.
“Maybe you heard some rumors. Nobody had to twist my arm to take this fight. That’s what happened, man. I don’t know all that stuff about who’s scared to fight him [Adames] or who’s not scared to fight him,” said Edwards when told that Adames has been saying that WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo and WBO 160-lb champ Janibek Alimkhanuly didn’t want to fight him.
“He’s a good fighter, but he doesn’t have a deem resume like that where [no one wants to fight him]. I don’t know about all that. I know he fought at 147 and 154.
“He’s with Top Rank and at 160, but who’s scared to fight him? He can fight, but I don’t talk in those terms,” said Edwards, making it clear he’s not afraid to let J-Rock William fight Adames.