Julian "J-Rock" Williams (born April 5, 1990) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He held the

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

, and IBO

light middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...

titles from 2019 to 2020. As of November 2020, Williams is ranked as the world’s fourth best active light middleweight by '' The Ring'' magazine, third best by the

Transnational Boxing Rankings Board The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) is an all-volunteer initiative formed in October 2012 with the intention of providing professional boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings, identifying the singular world champion of every divisio ...

, and fourteenth by

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

Amateur career

Williams started boxing at the age of 12. He had an amateur record of 77-10. He reached number five in the rankings at national level, although never won a national tournament. Williams' trainer, Stephen Edwards, said that Williams' preparation as an amateur boxer was erratic, so began working on a more rigorous training regime as Williams turned pro.

Professional career

Williams made his professional debut in May 2010, beating Antonio Chaves Fernandez

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) in the first round. In April 2013, Williams became the second fighter to stop

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

Dashon Johnson Dashon Johnson (born January 25, 1988) is an American professional boxer, mixed martial artist, and former North American Boxing Association (NABA) title super middleweight champion. Johnson is from Fontana, California. Boxing career NABA title ...

, improving his record to 12–0–1 with a third-round TKO. In his next fight, Williams won a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(77-72, 77-72, 77-72) over former world champion

Joachim Alcine Joachim Alcine (born March 26, 1976) is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, where he now resides. He is a former WBA light middleweight champion. Professional career Alcine defeated Jose Hilton Dos Santos on ...

. Alcine was dropped three times, but he rallied and won the final three rounds, landing significant shots on Williams. The prospect would survive and take the win. Williams next faced fellow prospect

Hugo Centeno Jr. Hugo Centeno Jr. (born February 19, 1991) is an American professional boxer. He is managed by Al Haymon. Amateur career Centeno had a record of 90-9 as an amateur. Professional career On September 17, 2010 Centeno beat the veteran Hector River ...

, but the fight ended in a

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

after an accidental headbutt. On 10 December 2016, Williams challenged

champion

Jermall Charlo Jermall Charlo (; born May 19, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC middleweight title since 2019 and previously the IBF light middleweight title from 2015 to 2017. His ...

. Charlo retained his title with a fifth-round stoppage of Williams. Charlo dropped Williams in the second round with a powerful jab. Williams came back and fought a clever fight, making Charlo miss, slipping punches, and landing some good counters. In round five, Charlo landed a right uppercut, dropping Williams hard. Williams got up, however Charlo went for the finish, and got it with a third knockdown after a barrage of punches ending with a left hook. After the referee stopped the fight, Williams went over to congratulate Charlo. Charlo didn't want to embrace and told Williams, “I don’t want your congratulations, I want your apology.” The crowd, noticing the heat between the two corners, started to boo Charlo. In the post fight interview, Charlo stated Williams had disrespected him leading up to the fight. On 11 May 2019, Williams beat

Jarrett Hurd Jarrett Hurd (born August 31, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified light middleweight world champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF and IBO titles between 2017 and 2019. As of September 2019, Hurd is ranked as th ...

by unanimous decision for the unified

championship. In an early fight of the year candidate, both fighters went at war, but it was Williams who managed to drop Hurd in the second round, and got the better of him throughout the fight. In the first time defending his belts, Williams faced Jeison Rosario, who was ranked #5 by the IBF and #9 by the WBA. Williams boxed well in the beginning, but Rosario looked like the bigger man and was holding up well to Williams' attacks. In the fifth round, Rosario dominated Williams, shaking Williams up badly and forcing the referee to stop the fight to get the upset win.

Personal life

Julian was raised in West Philadelphia and is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links