We will soon find out who will be mandated to fight for the WBC middleweight world champion, Jermall Charlo’s title, as on June 24th at The Armory in Menneapolis, Minnesota, as Showtime revealed today via Keith Idec of BoxingScene.com that Carlos Adames will face former world champion Julian Williams for the interim world title in a 12-round main event.
The news comes on the heels of Carlos Adames winning the WBC interim middleweight title against Juan Macias Montiel via a third-round knockout. Conversely, Williams had lost his unified 154 lbs world title to Jeison Rosario, and followed that up with a loss to Vladimir Hernandez, which was unexpected prompting Williams to move up to middleweight. Williams first fight at his new weight class of 160 lbs saw him defeat Rolando Mansilla.
“Hector Garcia and Alberto Puello are my brothers, I love them very much, and for the first time in the history of boxing, the Dominican Republic has more current world champions than Cuba and Puerto Rico. Both winning world titles on the same night was a great moment for our country. My motivation to become a world champion is burning in my heart and is the reason I’ve taken my training to the next level. I’m going to follow in their footsteps and together we will make history,” said Adames via a press in the fall prior to winning the interim world title via a press release as he reflected on the major moment Dominican boxing is having. “Fighting on this stage is every fighter’s dream, and I’m going to bring a great performance to all the fans tuning in. I want all those watching to realize that I’m not a boring fighter that just likes to win on points. I’m coming to make a statement with a vicious knockout, putting the entire middleweight division on notice. Everyone watching this fight is going to love my style, because I bring excitement to the ring.”
The co-feature will feature a crossroads fight between two fighters looking at mirror images of themselves in Erickson Lubin and Luis Arias, at the 154 lbs division. As both were once seen as stars in the sport, yet have taken a few more losses than many expected. The bout will give one fighter another chance, and might condemn the loser to think about life’s hard lessons.
“That's a good scrap…,” stated Errol Spence Jr., on Twitter as quote tweeted Keith Idec’s original tweet.
Opening the card will be the underrated IBF junior bantamweight world champion Fernando Martinez taking on Jade Bornea in a 12-round fight.
Showtime’s opener on June 24 will match Argentina’s Fernando Martinez against mandatory challenger undefeated Jade Bornea in a 12-round fight for Martinez’s IBF junior bantamweight title. Martinez will be looking to make his second defense of his world title, as he won the world title against Jerwin Ancajas, and made a successful defense against him later in 2022, marking his only two fights of the year.
“I think I surprised everybody,” said Fernando Martinez to BoxingScene.com's Keith Idec in October of 2022, when prior to his win over Ancajas for the second time as most overlooked the fact that Martinez was 148-2 as an amateur. “I don’t have a lot of professional fights, like other people, but I have a lot of experience in amateur fights. It was not an easy fight, but I studied him well before our fight.”
