Julian Williams Takes The Lead Among Boxers Saying NO To PEDs

Julian Williams is looking out for himself, and doing what he can to insure that proverbial even playing field, with his very public pronouncement aimed at his next foe.

His next foe, he told me, only IF Jarrett Hurd agrees to stringent PED testing.

There is a date for the next J-Rock bout, and a site, Dec. 14 at Barclays Center…But the opponent is not it seems locked down.

“Well I’ll be fighting I just won’t be fighting him,” the Philly fighter said. Not unless Hurd, who dropped his 154 crowns to Williams when they tussled on May 11, agreed to the new champ’s terms, in the realm of testing.

Williams spoke in general terms of what he’s trying to combat, in asking for lengthy testing. “All these cheats in boxing, cycle off and get into the testing program,” he said.

So, is Williams consciously carving out a space for himself as THE guy, the leader among fight sports athletes who want to take part in a clean sport. “I’m just trying protect myself, I am a clean fighter and I wanna fight clean fighters!”

And, so, when is the deadline for Hurd to accept the testing terms, before Williams moves on to Plan B? “September first,” said Williams.

My take: I cast no aspersions, not even hinting at that, at Hurd. But I applaud Williams’ stance and I see him as emerging as a leader of a movement that ideally coalesces. I say ideally, but realize I’m not part of a mega majority. Many are resigned to the status quo, but we need people like Williams, who say hell no. PEDs your thing, with me you don’t share a ring. Let’s see if other principled people follow his lead.