Adames vs Williams Predictions: Showdown to shift the shadow of Sheeraz

WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames defends his belt against Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams this Saturday, January 31. The 160lbs title affair takes place at Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson. DAZN will screen the bumper event live.

Read on for my Adames vs Williams predictions.

Adames vs Williams Odds

The world champion is a big favourite at 2/9. ‘Ammo’ is priced at 18/5 while the draw is marketed at 18/1.

Adames vs Williams Fight Preview

This fight brings together a pair of middleweights who have had their recent careers shaped by Hamzah Sheeraz. The unbeaten Brit has left this division behind to move up to 168lbs, but his presence is still felt by these two.

Sheeraz dealt Williams the first defeat of his career in June 2024. An 11th-round stoppage victory but Hamzah into the upper echelon, while ‘Ammo’ was left to reload.

Sheeraz parlayed that eye-catching TKO into a crack at the WBC middleweight gold. Step forward the champion, Carlos Adames. The Dominican put on a masterclass of pressure-fighting and looked to have done enough to inflict the first loss on Sheeraz. But the judges scored their bout 12 months ago as a draw. It was an unfair reflection of Adames’ fine performance against a misfiring Sheeraz, but at least the 31-year-old rightfully kept his WBC belt.

Momentum is everything in boxing, and, a year on, it is Sheeraz who has it. The 6’3” Briton battered Edgar Berlanga in five rounds last July. He is now looking likely to face Diego Pacheco for the vacant WBO super middleweight crown. Meanwhile, the man who got the better of him has not fought since that unjust draw.

Adames reportedly snubbed a unification fight with WBO/IBF kingpin Janibek Alimkhanuly, according to Saudi boxing tsar Turki Alalshikh. Considering the fact that Alimkhanuly failed an anti-doping test ahead of a scheduled December contest with WBA boss Erislandy Lara, perhaps Adames will consider that a bullet dodged.

Other fight whispers came and went but nothing happened and the momentum of the Sheeraz display was lost. Now, Adames looks to impress against another fighter making up for lost time.

‘Ammo’ Williams was riding a wave of momentum going into his own clash with Sheeraz. British fans saw him up-close when the American dismantled River Wilson-Bent in London. Wins over the likes of gatekeeper Steve Rolls and the then-unbeaten Chordale Booker saw Williams enter the Sheeraz clash at 16-0 and with momentum on his side.

After losing in 11 brutal rounds to the Brit, Williams has rebuilt slowly. The names haven’t sparkled, but they have all been beaten. Of these three post-Sheeraz victories, a 12-round points nod over fringe contender Patrice Volny is the best of the bunch. Cumulatively, this small body of work has made a case that Williams has plenty of ‘Ammo’ in the chamber.

These two men are ready to move out of the shadow of a shared foe and make an impact that is entirely their own. But only one can have their name engraved on that iconic WBC belt.

Adames vs Williams Full Card

Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson

Carlos Adames vs Austin Williams

Keyshawn Davis vs Jamaine Ortiz

Bruce Carrington vs Carlos Castro

Ziyad Almaayouf vs Kevin Castillo

Jarrell Miller vs Kingsley Ibeh

Adames vs Williams Prediction

Adames is a consummate professional. He is not flashy and is unlikely to top anyone’s list of their favourite fighters. But he is patient, cerebral and effective.

Williams is not quite the gun-slinger that his nickname suggests. Rather than power-punching, ‘Ammo’ is a defensive slickster with mean counter-punching and excellent head movement. More comfortable on the back foot, Adames will need to work hard to stifle Williams. But the Dominican is also a master at moving his head. There could be a lot of missed shots in this bout.

I expect Adames to dictate the pace and Williams to react. But I just reckon the champion is too wily for the challenger. I’m picking Adames to win at 2/9.

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