By Jake Donovan

For two opponents each predicting to knock out the other, Edwin Rodriguez and Thomas Williams Jr. seem to agree on a lot heading into their showdown this weekend.

The pair of light heavyweight punchers have limited smack talk to a brief exchange on social media when the bout was still being discussed. They otherwise remain all business heading into Saturday’s meeting at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

The crossroads clash serves as the chief support to a rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto in the second primetime installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on free-to-air Fox TV (Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET).

Perfectly setting up the bout were their respective knockout wins on separate legs of a PBC on Spike TV telecast last November. Williams opened the show with a 2nd round knockout of Humberto Savigne. Both fighters hitting the deck in round one before Williams punched Savigne into submission – and immediate retirement – in round two.

Rodriguez headlined the card, which aired live from Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss. The Dominican boxer gambled in the opening round of his main event with unbeaten Michael Seals, scoring a knockdown in the opening seconds of the bout, but leaving his chin exposed long enough to get dropped twice himself within the first three minutes.

It was the worst moments of an otherwise memorable evening for Rodriguez, who rallied back to drop Seals twice more in a spectacular 3rd round knockout win. The hope was for a title shot to come of the performance. Instead, he was offered a crack at the other winning light heavyweight on the night, with the belief that such a fight – whenever it took place – was guaranteed to produce fireworks for however long it lasts.

Given the high stakes involved, it’s possible that one – or both – of the boxers calls an audible and turns a fight into a boxing match, right?

“Hell no,” Rodriguez (28-1, 19KOs) emphatically stated when broached with the subject. “And I don’t think he does either.”

Williams (19-1, 13KOs) didn’t even try to attempt to suggest he plans to fight any other way.

“I don't think nobody expects it to go the distance,” suggests the DC-area based contender, whose father Thomas Williams Sr. is a former heavyweight contender.

The only aspect on which both seem to disagree – other than who will win – was the evolution of the fight. It seems that each was approached at separate portions of the evening following their respective victories on a four-fight telecast that featured 11 knockdowns and every fight ending in knockout.

While both boxers would prefer either a title shot or a fight that – with a win  would guarantee such an opportunity, neither hesitated at accepting this particular matchup when offered – even if it was pitched under false pretenses.

“In my case, after the Andre Ward fight I've just been working on trying to get back into title contention,” Rodriguez pointed out, speaking to a Nov. ’13 defeat that marked his final fight at super middleweight – and the lone loss of his career. “I've been looking for a world title fight. Thomas didn't have that so I really wasn't looking at him, so I'm happy this fight got made. Two top contenders going at it. It's a great fight, I'm excited. Let's get it on.

“I'd like to thank Thomas Williams, since he... called out my name. I have to thank him because without fighting a guy like Thomas who has a name in boxing... people know who he is, so a win will put me on the right path for a title fight.”

Williams appreciates the respect that comes from his opponent – just not the insistence he went out looking for this fight in particular.

“I never once called out Edwin's name,” Williams insists. “Actually, when the fight was first brought to me, they told me Edwin wanted to fight me. I was like "Cool, we can fight." They probably told him the same thing, that I wanted to fight him. They didn't have to do all that.

“All they had to say was "hey we think it'd be a good idea if you two fight each other," and we'd both be like "OK, cool." They told me Edwin wanted to fight me. Being a fighter, everybody who's ranked in front of me or who's around me... we're fighters. If we were firemen we'd put out fires. We're fighters, so it is what it is.” 

Rodriguez did his best to simplify matters.

“Did you just quote your boy Teddy Atlas?” Rodriguez inquired, referencing the trainer’s over-the-top “We Are Firemen” speech to former welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley during a fight last year. “We're not firemen; we're f***in' boxers!”

On Saturday, they will be two light heavyweights standing in each other’s way. If pre-fight expectations play out, they’ll transition from boxers to sluggers soon after the opening bell.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow him on his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2