Stuck in Mexico due to a visa issue, Adames didn’t arrive in Southern California until late the night before he was scheduled to weigh in for his WBC interim middleweight title fight against Juan Macias Montiel. Unlike seven weeks ago, Adames made weight without incident the next morning.

The determined Dominican overwhelmed Montiel the next night in Carson. That impressive victory made Adames the mandatory challenger for ever-inactive champ Jermall Charlo, who was tested by Montiel 15 months earlier.

Adames seemed to have arrived thanks to that superb performance. He was later promoted to full champ once the WBC finally stripped Charlo.

Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) has fought just three times, though, in the near 3½ years since he manhandled Montiel. His championship reign has been good enough for The Ring to rank him No. 1 among its 160-pound contenders for a vacant crown.

That doesn’t mean as much because Janibek Alimkhanuly was removed from The Ring’s top 10 for failing a performance-enhancing drug test. The Kazakh southpaw’s PED ordeal also cost him the IBF middleweight title.

It’s worth noting, however, that Adames, 31, confirmed to The Ring that he turned down a title unification fight against Alimkhanuly because he didn’t like the deal he was offered. Adames’ friend and stablemate, WBA champ Erislandy Lara, accepted that fight for December 6, only to have Alimkhanuly removed from it four days in advance because he tested positive for meldonium, a banned substance.

Adames also told The Ring he still wants to face Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs). He’ll have to first fend off Austin “Ammo” Williams in their rescheduled championship clash Saturday night at Caribe Royale Orlando (DAZN; 8 p.m. ET).

Simply beating Williams won’t suffice. This isn’t the time for an unremarkable unanimous decision.

Adames must outclass Milwaukee’s Williams (20-1, 13 KOs) and stop the strong southpaw to re-establish some of the momentum he had after demolishing Montiel.

He defeated former unified 154-pound champ Julian Williams by technical knockout and longtime contender Terrell Gausha via unanimous decision in his two subsequent bouts. He should’ve been declared the winner over British star Hamzah Sheeraz as well, yet settled for a suspect split draw in February 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He will end nearly a 13-month layoff when he squares off with Williams, who claimed during a press conference Thursday that Adames’ abrupt withdrawal from their bout before he weighed in January 30 was suspicious. Adames promised to answer Williams’ questions in the ring, where he should make every effort to re-stamp himself as the class of their diminished division.

Lester Martinez earned a higher-profile fight and a bigger payday September 13 than what awaits him Saturday night in San Bernardino, California.

The gutsy Guatemalan contender was simply too good for his own good during his back-and-forth “Fight of the Year” candidate against Christian Mbilli six months ago.

Settling for a draw enabled Mbilli to retain his WBC interim super middleweight title and avoid the immediate rematch ordered a few days after they traded punishing punches on the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez undercard at a sold-out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Montreal’s Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) was elevated to champion after Crawford retired in mid-December, which leaves Martinez (19-0-1, 16 KOs) to meet Immanuwel Aleem (22-3-3, 14 KOs) in a fight for the interim championship. The bout will headline a card ProBox TV will stream from Orange Show Events Center.

If Martinez dominates Aleem as the 18-1 odds suggest he will, you must wonder whether another WBC mandate would be enough to make Mbilli fight him again.

Jarrell Miller, 37, remains one of the most masterful marketers in boxing history.

He has milked his hilarious hairpiece fiasco for everything it’s worth the past seven weeks and continues to secure meaningful fights, despite that the perpetual PED abuser still hasn’t beaten a top-level heavyweight during his 16-year career. If Miller (27-1-2, 22 KOs) beats Cuban contender Lenier Pero (13-0, 8 KOs) on April 25 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, however, the brash Brooklyn native will elevate himself into legitimate contention for a WBA title shot.

Miller’s highly competitive majority draw against Andy Ruiz 19 months ago notwithstanding, that’s rather remarkable for a fighter who was stopped in the 10th round by Daniel Dubois three fights ago and has competed merely six times in the past seven years.

■ Omari Jones won’t be tested by much more experienced Mexican veteran Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs) in just the sixth professional fight for the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Saturday night on the Adames-Williams undercard. You should still tune in if you want to watch one of boxing’s most cerebral, poised, technically proficient prospects. Jones, 23, will partake in his first eight-round bout in his hometown, but the junior middleweights are unlikely to go the distance.

■ Mikaela Mayer has slowly but surely developed into one of the top three female fighters, pound-for-pound, and deserves one of the two terrific fights that could be next for the 35-year-old three-division champion. If Claressa Shields declines to meet Mayer at a reasonable catchweight for what would be a fascinating bout between 2016 U.S. Olympic teammates, a fight with Wales’ Lauren Price (9-0, 2 KOs) would determine a fully unified welterweight champion, assuming the heavy favorite defeats Puerto Rico’s Stephanie Pineiro Aquino (10-0, 3 KOs) on April 4 in Cardiff. It would be unfortunate for Mayer (22-2, 5 KOs), who recently signed with Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions, if neither of those matches materialized next.

■ Like Shields, Gabriela Fundora is becoming a victim of her own dominance. The multi-faceted Fundora picked apart another overmatched opponent in Viviana Ruiz last weekend and is obviously out of appealing options in the 112-pound division. Similar to “The GWOAT,” the undisputed flyweight champion barely loses rounds, let alone fights, and is always properly prepared. She is only 23, yet you have to wonder whether she’ll become bored by a lack of legitimate challenges. It would be a better business decision for Fundora (18-0, 10 KOs) to move up for a fight with another Ring champion, junior bantamweight Mizuki Hiruta (10-0, 2 KOs). She seems more inclined, though, to move down to the junior flyweight limit of 108 pounds.