Adames: ‘If I would’ve hit him(Williams) with another one, he probably would’ve gotten really hurt’

It was controversial, and it did not end the way he wanted it to end, but Carlos Adames(23-1, 18 KOs) retained his Interim WBC Middleweight Title with a ninth-round stoppage of former unified 154-pound champion Julian Williams(23-4-1, 16 KOs) in the main event Saturday night from The Armory in Minneapolis(SHOWTIME).

In that ninth round, Adames clearly had Williams hurt and had the Philadelphia native on the run. Williams blocked some of Adames’ onslaught and threw punches back, but referee Mark Nelson saw enough and stopped the fight with 2:45 in Round 9.

Esther Lin/Showtime

At the time of the stoppage, Adames led on all three cards(80-72, 78-74, and 77-74). 

After the fight, the 33-year-old Williams and his trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, were not very happy. Edwards was seen yelling at Nelson following the stoppage.

“I think it was a terrible stoppage, but what can I do?” Williams said after the loss. “I’m healthy, and I feel fine. I thought it was pretty much even, and I was taking over while he was getting tired. Of course, I want a rematch. It’s not his fault that the ref jumped in early. It looked corny. It looked bad. It was a great fight, I thought it was an even fight, and he jumps in and stops it because I got a little bit buzzed. It’s boxing.”

Edwards added: “He was hurt. I’m not saying he wasn’t hurt. At least let the fight go.”

Adames thinks Williams would have gotten hurt if the fight had continued.

“When I came with those two rights, that’s when the referee stopped it,” said Adames. “If I would’ve hit him with another one, he probably would’ve gotten really hurt.”

It was a bad stoppage. However, the 29-year-old Adames would have probably won this fight, whether by stoppage or decision, but it’s boxing, so anything could have happened.

Jermall Charlo holds the WBC 160-pound title but has been inactive for over two years. Adames hopes to get a fight with Charlo, but that might not be possible as Charlo could be in line to fight Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds, which could mean Adames gets the WBC strap.

We’ll see how that plays out, but it’s clear Adames is one of the best at 160 pounds.

Lubin stops Arias

The last time we saw Erickson Lubin (25-2, 18 KOs), he lost in a Fight of the Year candidate to Sebastian Fundora in 2022. On Saturday night, in the co-main event of Adames-Williams, Lubin returned with a dominant performance as he stopped Luis “Cuba” Arias (20-4-1, 9 KOs) in the fifth round of their scheduled 10-round showdown.

Like the main event, there was some controversy surrounding the fight’s ending. 

In the fifth round, Lubin dropped Arias with a right hand. Arias appeared to stand up before referee Zac Young’s count, hit 10, but Young disagreed and waived the fight off 2:11 into the round.

This was Arias’ first stoppage loss; according to him, Young’s count was off.

“That was definitely a bad count,” said Arias. “I need to go back and look at it and see if it was 10. That’s just part of the game. It was loud, [the referee] saw us taking some shots, both of us and he did, and what he had to do, but I felt like it wasn’t a fair count. And like I said, I’ll be back. My career has always been about reviving myself, fighting the best.”

Lubin says he would have worked hard to stop Arias if the fight continued.

“I know that if they were going to let him keep fighting, I was going to attack him and try to get him out anyways,” Lubin said. “I knew he was hurt, I hurt him with a body shot earlier in the round, and he started to slow down a little bit, and then the headshot just took him down.”

The 27-year-old called out Adames, who defeated Williams in the main event.

“That Fundora fight just motivated me,” said Lubin. “We got Fight of the Year last year, and I just came back strong. It just motivated me, man. I’m ready for the fights at 154, and I’m ready for the winner of this main event.”