Austin “Ammo” Williams will get his first world title shot on Saturday night, when he faces WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames at Caribe Royale Orlando (DAZN; 8 p.m. ET). While winning the belt will be based on what he’s able to do in the ring, the accomplishment would go well beyond that for Williams.

“That'll be a major step in our family,” Williams told The Ring. “A major accomplishment in our family – something I could use as a base to raise my daughter, hard work and continuing to push through adversity.”

Williams (20-1, 13 KOs) began boxing 11 years ago and turned pro in 2019. Before then, basketball was the main sport for the 29-year-old southpaw from Milwaukee.

His rapid ascension through this sport has hit one setback, an 11th-round stoppage defeat to Hamzah Sheeraz in a middleweight title eliminator in June 2024. After rebounding to stop Gian Garrido five months later, he found himself in another title eliminator against Patrice Volny a year ago at Caribe Royale.

The bout was a tactical affair for 12 rounds, but when the final scorecards were read, Williams earned the most important win of his career by unanimous decision. Williams credited his ability to break through the second time around to his trainer, Kevin Cunningham, who has worked with him since 2021.

“If I didn't have Kevin just telling me to push and what to do, knowing myself, I would have started thinking of a different way, and just that little gap in between action and thinking of a different way probably would have slowed me down,” Williams said.

“Now, I'm confident in what me and Kevin have put together, because what he's been teaching me feels ingrained. It's clockwork, and I haven't had that moment yet to really show what this style will do at the superstar level.”

Williams has been in line for a pair of significant bouts since beating Volny, but both fell by the wayside. He was supposed to face Etinosa Oliha in an IBF title eliminator last July, but pre-fight medicals revealed an eye issue the week of the fight and led to the Frenchman’s withdrawal. Williams then faced his friend and former sparring partner, Ivan Vazquez, and stopped him in the ninth round.

He was then scheduled to earn his first title shot against Adames on January 31, as part of the undercard of “The Ring 6” at Madison Square Garden. Williams made weight, but Adames, 31, had complications with his weight cut, and was withdrawn by his team. Williams faced late replacement Wendy Toussaint and won a unanimous decision in a 10-round super middleweight bout.

Just under two months later, Williams and Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) are scheduled to do battle again.

“No stone has been left unturned,” Williams said of his preparation for the rescheduled bout. “These six weeks since the last fight haven't been too strenuous. It's been more so just feathering the engine and getting to that finish line. Now, it's all about just getting to 160 and getting in the ring.”

In returning to Caribe Royale for his first world title shot, Williams believes his storybook ending is in sight. If he’s able to dethrone Adames, it’d mark the end of this chapter and the start of his next journey in the sport he began just over a decade ago.

“The whole story itself is so beautiful,” Williams said. “To win that world championship, this gives me my chip to wrap up volume one of Austin Williams. This story can end here with becoming the WBC world champion, and then we continue from there.

“It's just such a beautiful finale moment for me to win that championship, but a beginning at the same time.”