Julian Williams, soon to face Jermall Charlo, carries his Philly roots with him

Boxing can always use another personable champion from Philadelphia.

West Philadelphia’s unbeaten Julian Williams intends to elevate himself to that belt-wearing position at USC’s Galen Center on Saturday night, when he meets 154-pound world champion Jermall Charlo.

“Being a Philly fighter is not something you turn on and off. I carry it in the ring without even thinking about it. It’s embedded in me,” said Williams (22-0-1, 14 knockouts).

“You’ve got to be born and raised here to understand what I mean, but coming up through the city and the gyms in the amateur scene is a way of life. It’s who I am.”

Williams contends his background will be one of the differences in beating his fellow 26-year-old Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) in the International Boxing Federation super-welterweight bout that will be a co-main event on Showtime under Jesus Cuellar’s World Boxing Assn. featherweight title defense against Hawaiian Gardens’ former three-division world champion Abner Mares.

“I’ve seen so many different styles coming up through my career — taller guys, shorter guys, black fighters, Hispanic fighters,” said Williams, the IBF’s No. 1 contender who appeared during a Thursday news conference to be giving up a couple inches of height to Houston’s Charlo.

“I’ve had a solid upbringing. That gives me confidence to know I can do this. The competitive moments of my past fights are full of benefits.”

Williams attended Charlo’s most recent title defense, against veteran former champion Austin Trout in May, and fought on the same cards with him twice in 2013.

The challenger says he’s not impressed by the champion’s body of work, jabbing at the way Charlo won his belt with four knockdowns of 42-year-old Cornelius “K-9” Bundrage in 2015, and couldn’t finish Trout.

“I didn’t take away anything that I already didn’t know [from watching in May],” Williams said. “He’s a good fighter, not a slouch. But he’s a very flawed fighter and I think there are a bunch of things that I can exploit.”

Williams, riding a streak of three consecutive technical-knockout victories, wouldn’t criticize his and Charlo’s manager, Al Haymon, for the cautious handling of the champion, but he made a point to “put everything in perspective.

“He’s fought K-9 coming off a one-year layoff. Let’s be honest. He did what he’s supposed to do against a guy like that,” Williams said. “Austin Trout’s at the tail end of his career. His best was 99.9% behind him. Now, [Charlo] has to go against somebody who’s hungry like him, who’s young like him and someone who can actually fight. I don’t think he’s ever faced someone like that.

“I have. I’ve faced undefeated fighters before. I know how hard it is to make a guy who’s never lost lose. That’s where I think I have the edge in this fight.”

Charlo, whose twin brother, Jermell, wears the World Boxing Council 154-pound belt, has said Williams’ criticism has made the fight personal.

“I always knew we’d fight one day. I plan to use my height, my speed, my power,” said Jermall Charlo, trained by veteran cornerman Ronnie Shields. “It works both ways. I could say he hasn’t fought nobody. He fought some of the guys I had knocked out. To get to this level is a different level. I’ll let him understand this is different.”

Williams has complemented his Philadelphia training by aligning with former Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative head Victor Conte, who owns a gym in the Bay Area and has presided over Williams’ nutrition and late-training-camp conditioning for nearly three years.

“I believe he’s in the best shape of his life,” said Conte.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire