On Saturday, December 10, 2016, Jermall Charlo (24-0, 14 KOs) knocked out Julian Williams (22-1-1, 14 KOs) in Round 5 to successfully defend his IBF Junior Middleweight title at the Galen Center in Downtown, Los Angeles, California.
The scheduled 12-round fight was the co-main event of Cuellar-Mares and was televised on Showtime Championship Boxing.
Williams, the 26-year-old challenger of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had his moments while the fight lasted, but Charlo was too powerful for Williams to compete with him for 12 rounds.
In fact, after a first round that he probably lost due to taking several short counter right hands, Charlo landed a left jab that wobbled Williams’ legs and dropped him. Also, shortly before the knockdown, Charlo landed quick counter uppercut that would prove absolutely pivotal in the fight.
Charlo a 26-year-old native of Houston, Texas, exchanged hard shots in Round 3 and 4, but Charlo seemed to keep tagging Williams here and there with short counter right uppercuts.
Williams, though skilled in landing counter right hands, would often cut the distance slowly by leaning in very low as he threw his right hand. This would be a terrible mistake that Charlo slowly took advantage of.
Indeed, b Round 5, Charlo had noticed this and timed it to perfection, cranking it just enough to drop Williams with that very same counter right uppercut. Williams barely made it to his feet.
After a quick flurry, Williams was dropped and stopped immediately. This is Charlo’s most significant win yet.
“I just got caught. I was fine after the second round and kept going. He just caught me,” said Williams.
“He wasn’t too big,” said Williams regarding Charlo’s significant size advantage. “He just caught me,” said Williams.
After losing, Williams extended his hand to Charlo, hoping for a bit of reconciliation and good sportsmanship from Charlo. Instead, Charlo refused and was met with deafening booes from the audience.
Any fans that Charlo might have gained from his win tonight were utterly lost by that very small gesture of contempt for Williams, who was later cheered as he left the arena.
“Leading up to this fight Julian Williams talked, and I held it in. I did what I had to do to become the champion of the world and I deserve my respect,” said Charlo.
“I said I don’t want your congratulations, I want your apology. I don’t care what they say, I knocked him out,” said Charlo.
“I didn’t care about any of that,” said Williams regarding the post-fight drama.
“I just wanted to win,” said Williams.
Charlo also stated that he would not stay at 154 unless it were for a big fight, before calling out Canelo Alvarez, who currently holds the WBO 154-pound title.
What do you think is next for Charlo? Let us know in the comment section.
