By Stanley White: Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions says junior middleweight champions Jermell Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) and Jarrett Hurd (21-0, 15 KOs) are realistic options for Sadam Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) to face in unification fights. Ali won the WBO junior middleweight title last Saturday night in beating champion Miguel Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Ali staggered Cotto in round 2 and 4, and then completely took over the fight from round 8. It might be smart for Ali to hold onto the WBO title long enough to fight Kell Brook, who is moving up in weight in his next fight. Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants to match him up against Ali after his next fight, which will be a tune-up fight. Ali can make good money if he fights Brook in the UK next year.
Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin got a big payday fighting Brook in London. Ali might be able to do the same thing.
Gomez says he’s not sure if Ali, 29, will move back down to 147 or stay at 154. He does say that he was very impressed with his performance against Cotto and he liked how he looked at the weight. Gomez wants to sit down with Ali’s dad and see what he has to say about staying at 154 or moving back down to 147. Gomez also wants to talk to him about the choice of opponents for Ali.
“We’re going to sit down and we’re going to look at everybody,” said Gomez to Fighthub when asked if Sadam Ali would be facing the likes of Jermell Charlo, Erislandy Lara and Jarrett Hurd. “We’re going to see what’s the best strategy,” said Gomez.
I don’t think Gomez is seriously going to even consider putting Sadam Ali in with big junior middleweights like Jermell Charlo or Jarrett Hurd. Those guys are huge, and they hit a lot harder than him. Even Miguel Cotto would be in trouble against fighters like Charlo and Hurd.
If Ali doesn’t give up his title, then he’s probably going to need to defend against WBO mandatory Liam Smith next. That’s not going to be an easy fight, because Smith is a big junior middleweight, who could easily be fighting at middleweight. Smith rehydrates into the low 170s for his fights at junior middleweight. Ali might have problems with Smith’s size and power. If Golden Boy decides they want Ali to stay around long enough at 154 to fight Brook, then they’re going to need to give Liam Smith a step aside payment, so he’ll temporarily disappear. Ali can then take an easy voluntary defense against a fringe contender before facing Brook in early 2018.
“It’s hard to say because he looked so good at this weight,” said Gomez about whether Sadam Ali will stay at 154 or move back down to 147. “There are a lot of names out there. We’re going to sit down with his dad and see what he wants to do,” said Gomez.
Ali should try and make as much money as he can as the WBO 154 lb. champion. Once Ali moves back down to 147, he’ll revert to just a simple contender, getting small paydays fighting contenders and 2nd tier fighters. There’s no money for Ali in fighting non-title fights at welterweight.
