Carlos Adames stopped Julian Williams on Saturday night, much to the disgust of Williams and his trainer, Stephen Edwards.

The emerging Dominican middleweight nevertheless beat Williams by ninth-round technical knockout at The Armory in Minneapolis. Williams was still on his feet when referee Mark Nelson stepped between them to halt the action with 15 seconds to go in the ninth round of their 12-round fight for Adames’ WBC interim middleweight title.

Williams, who was bleeding from a cut beneath his right eye and taking power punches from Adames, expressed disbelief when Nelson stopped their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event. Edwards, who is also a contributor to BoxingScene.com, called Nelson “a piece of sh*t” for stopping a fight Williams was losing on all three scorecards.

The 29-year-old Adames, who continually switched between orthodox and southpaw stances, relentlessly attacked Williams’ body, but he couldn’t put the former unified junior middleweight champion down.

Adames improved to 23-1 and produced his 18th knockout. Adames also successfully defended the WBC interim middleweight title he won in his previous fight – a third-round knockout of Mexican contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) on October 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Adames, who hurt Williams badly during the fourth round, agreed with Nelson’s decision to stop their fight almost five full rounds later.

“I think the referee stopped it [at the right time],” Adames told Showtime’s Jim Gray, according to a translator. “Because he could’ve really got hurt. … That’s when the referee stopped it, when I hit him with those two rights. And if I would’ve hit him with another one, he would’ve got really hurt.”

Philadelphia’s Williams (28-4-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) slipped to 1-3 in his four fights since he upset then-undefeated Jarrett Hurd to win the IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound championships in May 2019. Williams has been stopped in two of those bouts, by Jeison Rosario in January 2020 and Adames.

Williams, who admitted he was “buzzed,” told Gray he should’ve been allowed to continue in the ninth round.

“I think it was a terrible stoppage,” Williams said. “But what can I do? I’m healthy, I feel fine. I thought it was a terrible stoppage. I thought the fight was pretty much even and I was taking over, and he was getting tired. You know what I mean? But what can I do?”

Judges John Mariano (78-74), Nathan Palmer (77-74) and Raymundo Perez (80-72) all had Adames ahead through eight rounds.

Adames landed several head shots that affected Williams in the opening 40 seconds of the ninth round. Adames hammered Williams with power punches to his head later in the ninth round, including a right that snapped his head back with just under a minute remaining in it.

A battered, fatigued Williams remained on his feet, but Nelson eventually stepped between them to end their fight.

Adames credited Williams for surviving the aforementioned fourth round.

“He’s a fighter that’s a veteran,” Adames said. “He has skills and all that, and that’s what got him through that round.”

Adames landed a right hook and then a right uppercut with just under 30 seconds remaining in the eighth round. Williams drilled Adames with a right hand that landed with 55 seconds on the clock in the eighth round.

Adames continued to land to Williams’ body during the seventh round, but Williams held his own while they fought inside. Adames’ right hook to Williams’ head got Williams’ attention with just under 1:10 to go in the seventh round.

Adames landed numerous lefts and rights to Williams’ body in the final 40 seconds of the sixth round. Williams walked slowly to his corner after absorbing those body blows.

A straight right by Adames landed with just over 1:20 to go in the sixth round. Williams landed a left and then a right a little less than a minute into the sixth round.

After taking a couple punches from Williams, Adames landed a left uppercut with 45 seconds on the clock in the fifth round. Williams’ right landed 55 seconds into the fifth round, just a couple seconds after Adames connected with a right hook.

Williams’ straight right landed with just over 1:20 to go in the fourth round. Adames unloaded power punches on Williams with under a minute to go in the fourth round, though, and a fatigued Williams held him as best he could to make it to the fifth round.

Adames’ left landed barely 1:15 into the fourth round, which was a sign of what was to come later in that round.

Adames’ straight left backed Williams into the ropes 25 seconds into the fourth round.

Adames stumbled backward after taking a right hand and their feet got tangled early in the third round. Williams mostly kept his distance for the rest of that round, until Adames landed an array of head shots in the final 12 seconds of it.

Adames pressed the action in the second round. Williams tried to hold him just before the midway mark of the second round, but Adames still landed a left hand as Williams stumbled away from him.

Adames drilled Williams with a left to the body that connected with just under 50 seconds on the clock in the second round. Adames landed another hard left to Williams’ body a few seconds before the second round ended.

Williams was cautious during the first round, but he landed a right hand with 40 seconds remaining in it. Adames attacked him after taking that shot, though he couldn’t land a clean punch because Williams held him.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.