Austin “Ammo” Williams worked through Patrice Volny’s high, tight defense with enough activity Saturday night to win his most difficult fight since Hamzah Sheeraz knocked him out last year.

Milwaukee’s Williams won their 12-round middleweight match by unanimous decision, though Montreal’s Volny made matters difficult at times for the strong southpaw. Judges Fred Fluty (118-110) and Efrain Lebron (116-112) respectively scored 10 and eight rounds for Williams, but Michael Ross’ score, 115-113, seemed more reflective of the competitive nature of a main event DAZN streamed from Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida.

Regardless, Williams (18-1, 12 KOs) won his second straight fight since British contender Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) stopped him in the 11th round of their June 1 bout at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Williams’ win moved him into position to secure a 160-pound title shot sometime by the end of 2025.

“Amazing. Amazing in every way,” Williams told DAZN’s Chris Mannix about his victory. “This is what we trained for, a hard fight, tough guys who want to win. He had never been stopped before. I was going for it, but my maturity told me I can’t go and blast out and get caught with something. I learned from doing that. I learned from doing that. I had to beat him strategically. He was very smart. He listened to his corner the whole fight. I had to pick from experiences I have in previous fights and take him down.”

The 35-year-old Volny (19-2, 13 KOs) lost for the first time since he dropped a technical split decision to Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao (then 28-0) in November 2021.

Volny and Williams fought the 12th round as if both boxers thought the outcome of their competitive contest could’ve been determined by who was better in those final three minutes.

A left hook by Volny encouraged Williams to tie him up with just over 40 seconds to go in their bout. Williams went down several seconds before the final bell sounded, but referee Luis Pabon correctly called it a slip because their feet got tangled.

A left hook by Volny stopped Williams in his tracks with just over 30 seconds remaining in the 11th round. About 10 seconds later, Volny nailed Williams with a left to his body as Williams attempted to move away from him.

Williams and Volny opened up on each other in the opening minute of the 11th round.

Volny’s left to Williams’ body with under 40 seconds to go in the 10th round prohibited Williams from continuing to land lefts and jabs in that round.

Volny snapped back Williams head when he landed a right uppercut toward the end of the ninth round. Williams and Volny traded on the inside with just over a minute to go in the ninth round.

Williams worked well off his jab in the eighth round. He also landed straight lefts and left uppercuts in that round.

Volny and Williams defended themselves better in the seventh round after both boxers absorbed hard shots in the sixth round. Williams wasn’t aggressive in the seventh round, however, and allowed Volny to press the action.

Following an uneventful fifth round, Volny drilled Williams with a left hook in the sixth round that seemed to affect him. Williams regained his composure, though, and got Volny’s attention with left hands during the final minute of the sixth round.

Volny nailed Williams with a straight right less than 10 seconds into the fourth round. A crafty Volny landed another straight right that backed up Williams later in the fourth round.

Williams went hard at Volny’s body during the third round. Volny traded with Williams and gained some momentum later in the third round, which drew the ire of Williams’ trainer, Kevin Cunningham, in his corner following the third round.

Pabon warned Williams for a low blow just before the midway mark of the second round. Williams drilled Volny with a left hand up top earlier in the second round, but Volny took it well.