By Sean Jones: Frustrated at being ignored by Saul Canelo Alvarez, WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) says he wants to fight the Mexican star after he defends his title against junior middleweight Dennis Hogan (28-2-1, 7 KOs) on December 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Charlo-Hogan will be shown on Showtime Boxing at 9:00 p.m., ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Charlo fighting weak opposition
Jermall, 29, wants to fight Canelo and IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, but he’s fighting on the wrong network to get those guys to face him. Canelo and GGG both fight on DAZN, and they’re not going to setup a contest with someone that fights on rival network, especially someone that doesn’t have a big fan base.
The perception the boxing public has is Charlo takes a lot of soft opposition in record-padding fights. When Jermall recently struggled in beating 36-year-old Matt Korobov by a controversial 12 round unanimous decision last year on December 22, he failed to clear up the controversy by fighting the Russian fighter a second time. Instead, Charlo moved on and take a weak opponent in Brandon Adams, who he defeated by a 12 round unanimous decision last June. Charlo is now 29, and not getting any younger.
Charlo: I want Canelo and Golovkin
“It’s business. The more I talk about the Canelo or the Golovkin fight, the fans go, ‘You’re not getting those fights.’ Obviously, I’m getting bad feedback,” said Charlo. “But regardless, those are the fights that I want. That’s the main fight that I want, the champion, Canelo. It’s the time, 29, and get this 30 [Dennis Hogan] out the way. I’ll get that 30, and hopefully I can get that call and make that fight happen.
“I just want to go in and have fun, and sooner or later I’ll get that call. That’s what I’m really hoping for. That’s my main priority. Jaime ain’t on my level, and homee [Hogan] isn’t on my level either. On fire already. I’ve been 24 rounds in my last two fights, and that’s not normal for me So I’m back where I want to be. I’m putting my shots together. Me and Ronnie [Shields] are working on different things,” Charlo.
Jermall could have moved to the same network as Canelo and GGG at DAZN, and put himself in a good position to fight them. He didn’t do that though. Golovkin is nearing retirement, Charlo almost chance of getting a fight against him ever. Canelo is fighting guys at light heavyweight, and the WBC made it easy for him to ignore Charlo by giving him the Franchise tag. They then gave Charlo the WBC title without him fighting Canelo for it. Canelo doesn’t have to ever fight Charlo, and he likely won’t, as long as he fights for a different network.
Charlo: I’ll get Canelo fight sooner or later
“Sooner or later I’m going to get that fight that everybody keeps asking for, and then you’ll get a chance to believe in me,” said Canelo. “I’m the champ. We can get it on whenever. I ain’t jumping ship. I’ll sign a one-day contract with DAZN if they want me to, and we can get the fight. If they want to make the s—, then we can make the s— happen.
“It’s Canelo. You know the fight that I want. Champions want to fight the best. They gave me the belt [WBC middleweight title]. I would have fought for the belt [against WBC champion Canelo]. It’s time. They want to shut me up for real. They’re going to have to figure it out,” said Charlo.
The only real chance Charlo has in getting Canelo or GGG to fight him is if he faces these types of fighters:
- Demetrius Andrade
- David Benavidez
- Callum Smith
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Caleb Plant
- Artur Beterbiev
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
- Gilberto Ramirez
- Dmitry Bivol
Unfortunately for Charlo, he’s got to take some risks with his career by fighting guys above his weight class in order to increase his popularity. Charlo doesn’t quite understand that he’s getting popular by fighting guys like Hogan, Brandon Adams, Korobov or Hugo Centeno. Jermall has burned through 11 years of his career without facing one significant opponent.
Charlo should have woken up and smelled the coffee, and realized that he needs to move up in weight to fight guys that help increase his popularity. At middleweight, Charlo is fighting too many fighters that the boxing public don’t care about. They don’t want to see Charlo fighting Adams, Hogan, Jorge Sebastian Heiland or Austin Trout.
Jermall open for Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams rematch
I’ll do it,” said Charlo when asked if he’d like to fight a rematch with Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams. “He’s doing better now. He’s a better fighter than when I fought him, I guess. The game plan is still the same. It’s not like anything is going to change. He’s actually going to be looking for the wrong shot now. He’s going to be scared of the uppercut. It’s going to be other s—. I’m not worried about that. It’s boxing. I’m my own promoter, and I call my own shots. DAZN is a network. I don’t know why everybody gets confused. They’re not a promoter.
“Hearns is doing great over there, but that’s a network. This network that I’m fighting on is Showtime, so that’s what we’re going to talk about right now. I’m coming to the Barclay to whoop his [Hogan] a—, and that’s what I’m going to do. But if he don’t take the s— early, he’s going down. For sure. This fight right here, I’m one of the best finishers in the world. I’m getting back on my s—, and I’m going to show you,” said Charlo.
There’s no upside in Charlo fighting J-Rock again, because he already beat him. Charlo need to either face Demetrius Andrade or move up to 168 and 175 to take on the best fighters in that weight class that are willing to face him.
