Carlos Adames may not be a world titleholder yet, but he believes he is the best fighter in his division.

“I’m the best middleweight in boxing today because I know I can beat each and every one of them.”

Adames, who holds the WBC’s interim belt, will face former unified junior middleweight titleholder Julian Williams tonight at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 12-round bout will headline a three-bout Showtime Boxing Championship telecast (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).

At Friday’s weigh-in, Adames weighed in at 159.5 pounds. Williams came in at 159.2 pounds.

The 29-year-old Adames (22-1, 17 knockouts), who is originally from the Dominican Republic and now resides in New York City, is currently ranked No. 3 by The Ring. In his last bout on October 8, Adames knocked out Juan Macias Montiel in the third round. Back in December 2021, Adames dug deep to win a hard-fought and close majority decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

Adames will face a fighter with a lot of experience in Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs). The Philadelphia resident defeated Rolando Wenceslao Mansilla in his last bout on November 5 after back-to-back losses against Jeison Rosario and Vladimir Hernandez. Adames has respect for Williams’ accomplishments, but is confident his skill-set and experience will also play out in the ring on Saturday night.

“I have a lot of experience, actually I have a lot of amateur experience,” Adames told The Ring. “I’ve fought experienced fighters. I’ve had no problem facing them. I think the plan that we have executed in the gym, along with the conditioning, has been the best. We have different plans to counter what Julian Williams brings to the fight. We will give the best of ourselves that night.”

Adames suffered the only loss of his career in November 2019, losing a close decision to Patrick Teixeira. Since then, Adames has won his last four bouts as well.

Valuable lessons were learned in and out of the ring from that night, according to Adames, which have made him a better overall fighter.

“It was a fight that helped because it doubled my experience as a fighter from that night,” said Adames, who is advised by Luis DeCubas, Jr. and trained by Bob Santos. “It made me understand what type of fighter I was that day. It made me realize that no opponent is easy. You have to sacrifice yourself in the gym. You have to work. You have to follow through on dietary guidelines and rules. You have to give more of yourself to prepare for a fight. I learned a lot. I don’t underestimate anyone in the ring. I’ve pushed myself in each training camp since and you’ve seen the results since.”

Adames does have a secondary world title belt, which will be on the line against Williams. With no foreseeable fight in the near future against WBC world titleholder Jermall Charlo or any of the other world titleholders in the division, Adames believes he is the best fighter in the division. He is also confident it will be a matter of time, whether later this year or in 2024, that a fight against any of the upper-echelon fighters in the division will be made.

“They could put them in front of me, one by one by one, and I know I can defeat them because of my discipline in the gym and my talent in the ring,” said Adames. “I know there are strong fighters at 160 pounds but I know for a fact that I can beat them all.

“I don’t feel any frustration at all (of having not yet faced any of the top fighters in the division). Nor do I feel any pressure because I’ve said all along that the timing of God is perfect. All I have to do is wait and that time will come. Maybe now is not the time to face those opponents. Perhaps Charlo has other plans. Perhaps others have other plans as well. To demonstrate they are indeed champions, they have to face the best. I want to face the best because, not just for my gratification, but also to show the fans of the sport who is the best in the sport. That’s why I want to face the best in the division.”

Currently, the state of boxing in the Dominican Republic and fighters who were born there and now fighting abroad could not be in a better place. Several divisions have either a world titleholder, top contenders, or prospects from the island nation in the Caribbean.

Adames beams with pride knowing the sport is going strong there in the Dominican Republic and young kids are eager to try out the sport to carve out their path.

“I have a lot of pride knowing that there is a lot of success in the Dominican Republic. There are four world champions from the Dominican Republic. There is a lot of pride knowing young kids are taking interest in the sport. They are dedicated to becoming the next Carlos Adames, Michel Rivera, Jeison Rosario, or Elvis Rodriguez. Big names, including Hector Garcia, Erick Rosa or Alberto Puello. Big names and figures of Dominican Boxing. That gives me a lot of pride.

“I feel satisfied. I’m doing an excellent job in my sport. I’m not doing it just to do it. I’m doing it for the fans of boxing in the Dominican Republic and for the country. I want them to know that I’m doing ideal work in the sport.”

Despite his success, Adames remains grounded. He hopes to please his growing fan base with another solid outing Saturday and to ensure he fulfills his goals and dreams of winning a world title belt down the line.

“I feel a lot of pride. I always try to remain humble. I feel great knowing that American, Mexican and Latin American fans of the sport follow me. They see the work I do and they support me. To start from zero and to be where I’m at, it’s a blessing from God, the fans and from PBC as well. For me, I feel like I still need to do more and that’s what I’ll do to satisfy my goals in the ring.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow @FSalazarBoxing