Julian Williams hasn't always paid close attention to the middleweight division, mostly because he was busy taking care of business one weight class below. His days of outboxing opponents at 154 pounds and racking up world titles, however, are officially over with.

Making 154 pounds took a lot of Williams. Skipping out on meals, spending a bit more time on the treadmill, and drinking tons of water were all prerequisites for making the junior middleweight limit. But, at the age of 33 and protracting his stay far longer than he would've liked, Williams looked down at the scales in disgust and decided that it was time for a change.

In his middleweight debut in November of 2022, Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) schooled Rolando Wenceslao Mansilla, winning a wide unanimous decision. Now, after packing on the pounds and getting comfortable, Williams squares off against Carlos Adames this upcoming weekend at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Lauded, pumped up, and praised as one of the best middleweights around - Williams isn’t downplaying Adames and everything he brings to the table. In fact, Williams is acknowledging that the current WBC interim tag holder checks a ton of boxes.

“I think he has a really good skill set,” Williams told BoxingScene.com.

At 154 pounds, Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) showed a ton of potential. But when he asked to step up to the plate and fight for a world title against Patrick Teixeira in 2019, the Dominican native wet the bed. A year and a half later and a subsequent move up in weight did the 29-year-old justice.

Four consecutive victories, the latest allowing him to wrap interim gold around his waist, have given Adames the sort of temerity that he’s seemingly been missing. His newfound hubris, nevertheless, is a bit over the top according to Williams.

Sure Adames has looked good as of late and has scored the type of victories that has officially turned his career around, but Williams believes that Adames has a few holes that he hasn’t shored up. Mainly, Adames’ inability to bite down on his mouthpiece and fight when the going gets tough.

“I seen him come apart in fights when he’s being tested, when he's being fought back.”