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Mike Coppinger reports that former unified junior middleweight titleholder Julian Williams, out of action since losing his belts in January, was planning to face Dennis Hogan on December 26th before coming down with COVID. He claims “there’s hope” that the two can ultimately lock horns in January.
Both Williams (27-2-1, 16 KO) and Hogan (28-3-1, 7 KO) are in need of big wins. “J-Rock” authored one of 2019’s biggest upsets by beating down IBF/WBA “super” champ Jarrett Hurd, only to wind up on the wrong end of one of 2020’s biggest upsets when Jeison Rosario battered him in January. Hogan, meanwhile, got jobbed against Jaime Munguia, received a middleweight title shot as a consolation prize, then got smashed by Jermall Charlo.
Nobody really expected Hogan to get past the larger, more powerful Charlo, but Williams’ status is definitely a question mark. Rosario came into that fight having barely beaten Jorge Cota his last time out, yet still managed to put Williams through the ringer. He’ll have a lot to prove against the savvy Irishiman.