Jermall Charlo: I’m going to KO Centeno in 1st round if he can’t take a shot

By Boxing News - 02/01/2018 - Comments

Image: Jermall Charlo: I’m going to KO Centeno in 1st round if he can’t take a shot

By Jeff Aranow: Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KO) says he could take out Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-1, 14 KOs) in round 1 in their fight on March 3 if he can’t take a shot. If Centeno Jr. can take a shot, then he’s going to be in a real war, says the 27-year-old Charlo. He plans on taking the fight to the 6’1 ½: Centeno Jr. and forcing him to brawl with him for as long as the contest lasts.

Charlo and Centeno Jr. will be fighting for the interim WBC middleweight title on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder vs. Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz card on Showtime Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This won’t be home advantage for Charlo or Centeno Jr. Charlo lives in Richmond, Texas. The 26-year-old Centeno Jr. is from Oxnard, California. They’ve been picked out to add some more entertainment to the Wilder-Ortiz card, and they might end up having the most exciting fight of the night if things work out right.

“It’s going to be a tough match-up,” Jermall Charlo said to Fighthub about his fight with Centeno. ”If he can take a shot, then we’re going to fight. It’s going to be a brutal war, and if he can’t. We’re going to take him out in the 1st round,” Charlo said.

It’s generally thought that the 6’0” Charlo is going to destroy Centeno Jr. on March 3. Centeno Jr. doesn’t believe it. His motto is ‘styles make fights.’ However, it’s not a good thing that Centeno Jr. was getting dominated by Julian Williams in their fight in September 2014 until the fight was halted in round 4 due to Centeno Jr. suffering a cut from a head-butt. The fight was ruled a no contest, bu a lot of boxing fans thought he quit. Centeno Jr. also lost to Maciej Sulecki by a 10th round knockout in June 2016.

4 out of the last 5 fights for Charlo have ended in 5 rounds or less with him knocking out his opponents. Charlo blasted out Jorge Sebastian Heiland, Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams, Wily Campfort and Cornelius Bundrage. Heiland came into the fight with Charlo favoring one of his legs. It was immediately clear that Heiland had an injury, and he couldn’t put up a proper fight due to him limping around the ring. It would have been interesting to see how he fight would have turned out had Heiland not been hurt.

“A lot of people count me out,” Centeno said to Thaboxingvoice. “I’m not here to prove them wrong. I’m here to prove myself right. I’ve always been chasing the dream of being a world champion, and I’m much closer. Beating Jermall will lead to Canelo and Triple G. I’m just making my dream come true. In boxing styles make fights. I feel like I’m the naturally bigger guy. I’ve been here 3 years ago 160, and he’s just moving up. For Showtime to ask me if Jermall Charlo is one of the hardest hitting middleweights out there, he just got to the middleweight division. So, we’re not sure if he’s the hardest hitting middleweight yet. I know he’s a strong fighter. My punches don’t tickle either. I think Jermall hasn’t had someone that measures up to him, and I feel I measure up to him, and come March 3, I’m going to show it. Julian Williams was probably his best test yet,” Centeno Jr. said.

If Centeno Jr. can win this fight, it’ll put him in position for a match against Gennady Golovkin. Centeno Jr. won’t get a fight with Canelo, because he won’t keep the WCB title if he beats Golovkin. Centeno only has an option to fight GGG if he beats Canelo in their fight on May 5.

Centeno Jr. has the size advantage over Charlo, but that might be enough. Charlo is a big puncher, and he’s fearless inside the ring. He’s going to be bouncing shots off Centeno’s chin early trying to get him out of there. if Centeno doesn’t time Charlo with one of his wide left hooks, he might get knocked out quickly.