Carlos Adames and Julian Williams weren’t nearly as animated as Erickson Lubin and Luis Arias as they weighed in Friday afternoon in Minneapolis.
It took multiple people, though, to separate Adames and Williams from their faceoff after they made weight at W Minneapolis The Foshay, a hotel near the site of their fight Saturday night. A stone-faced Williams stared at Adames until promoter Tom Brown stepped between them on stage a day before they’ll fight for Adames’ WBC interim middleweight title at The Armory.
The Dominican Republic’s Adames stepped on the Minnesota Office of Combat Sports’ scale at 159½ pounds. Philadelphia’s Williams was a little lighter, officially 159¼ pounds.
The 12-round bout between Adames, 29, and Williams, 33, will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader scheduled to start at 9 p.m. EDT.
Most sportsbooks have made Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) at least a 5-1 favorite over Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC), a former IBF/IBO/WBA 154-pound champion.
Though more accomplished, Williams is an underdog because he hasn’t beaten a championship-caliber opponent since his upset of then-undefeated Jarrett Hurd in May 2019.
Williams, who won the three aforementioned junior middleweight titles from Hurd, is 1-2 in his past three fights. Underdogs Jeison Rosario and Vladimir Hernandez beat him in back-to-back bouts following his career-defining win against Hurd – by fifth-round technical knockout and 10-round split decision, respectively.
Adames will make his first defense of a WBC interim title he won when he knocked out Mexican contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) in the third round October 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Official weights for the first five fights Showtime will stream and then televise Saturday night are listed below.
Showtime
9 p.m. EDT; 8 p.m. CDT
Erickson Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs), Orlando, Florida, 156½ pounds vs. Luis Arias (20-3-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC), Las Vegas, 155¾ pounds, 10 rounds, middleweights.
Fernando Martinez (15-0, 8 KOs), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 114½ pounds vs. Jade Bornea (18-0, 12 KOs), General Santos City, Philippines, 115 pounds, 12 rounds for Martinez’s IBF junior bantamweight title.
Showtime Sports’ YouTube Channel
6:30 p.m. EDT; 5:30 p.m. CDT
Caleb Truax (31-5-2, 19 KOs, 1 NC), St. Michael, Minnesota, 174¾ pounds vs. Burley Brooks (6-2-1, 5 KOs), Dallas, 174 pounds, 10 rounds, light heavyweights.
Jerwin Ancajas (33-3-2, 22 KOs), Panabo City, Philippines, 121¾ pounds vs. Wilner Soto (22-12, 12 KOs), Canalete, Colombia, 120¾ pounds, 8 rounds, junior featherweights.
Mickel Spencer (3-0, 2 KOs), Linden, Michigan, 141½ pounds vs. Lyle McFarlane (2-1, 1 KO), Tulsa, Oklahoma, 141½ pounds, 4 rounds, welterweights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.