By Chris Williams: WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) says he’s not afraid of either Canelo Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin. Jermell points out that he competes at 154, not 160, so they’re NOT in his weight class.
Ignoring the weight issue, Charlo hasn’t shown that he’s deserving of a fight with Canelo or Golovkin. By this stage in Charlo’s career, he needed at least one big test to show that he’s capable of competing with Canelo and GGG. He’s not done that.
Charlo states that his brother WBC middleweight belt holder Jermall (30-0, 22 KOs) isn’t afraid of Canelo or GGG either.
With boxing on a lockdown right now, Charlo, 29, isn’t fighting anybody, and no one knows when it’ll restart. Some fans don’t buy into Charlo’s excuse for why he’s not calling out GGG and Canelo. Charlo saying that he fights at 154, gives the impression that he doesn’t want any part of those two fighters.
At 154, Charlo is only six pounds away from 160, and he’s arguably the same size as GGG in terms of weight after rehydrating. At 5’11”, Charlo is three inches taller than the 5’8″ Canelo, and that’s another reason why he should be calling him out.
After Charlo’s first-round knockout win over Erickson Lubin in 2017, fans expected him to challenge Canelo and Golovkin back then. Nothing happened though, and Charlo is now three years older and with very little to show in terms of wins over notable opposition.
Charlo not afraid of Canelo or Golovkin
“No, I’m not afraid of no Canelo or GGG. I’m a 154-pounder,” said Jermell Charlo on social media. “You got it all f*** up. The wrong twin and he [Jermall] ain’t scared either. I bet none of these people on here would be talking to me like this to my face. That’s crazy,” said Jermell.
Charlo’s lack of punching power would make him easy prey for Golovkin and Canelo, but at least he should that he’s not afraid of them. It’s one thing for Charlo to say he’s not scared of those two stars, but it’s another thing to show it by facing them. Would Charlo do well against Canelo or Golovkin? It’s challenging to picture Charlo lasing more five rounds against either guy. Charlo doesn’t hit hard enough, and his boxing skills are rudimentary.
There’s a lot of money for Jermell to make against either Canelo or Golovkin. For Charlo not to be looking to face either, it seems like he doesn’t want any of that smoke from either fighter.
Fans say that Charlo hasn’t fought anyone talented during his 13-year pro career, and he doesn’t have much time left. As an elite fighter, Charlo has a small handful of years, and that’s with perfect match-making.
Charlo says he’s not afraid of Golovkin or Canelo, but he’s not calling them out. That doesn’t make sense. Even the much smaller 5’8″ Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought Canelo. Charlo should be willing to take on Canelo, too, given his enormous size advantage over the Mexican boxing star.
Charlo’s best wins:
- Tony Harrison
- Erickson Lubin
- Jorge Cota
- Austin Trout
- Vanes Martirosyan
- Charles Hatley
Jermell lost to Harrison in 2018 and struggled in their rematch before knocking him out in the 11th round last December.
Jermell tried to fight Demetrius Andrade
“I tried to fight [Demetrius] Andrade in 2014. He pulled out of that fight, and now you’re saying we’re ducking. Cut that Andrade s*** out. If they offer me a check now right now, and if he comes down to 154, I’m knocking that b**** out. I slept [Erickson] Lubin,” said Charlo.
“I don’t think a lot of these dudes would call me out,” said Jermell. “They ain’t calling me out that used to be talking that s*** about me. They aren’t calling me out. For all you morons and idiots and lame a** mother f**** that don’t understand boxing. I tried to fight all of these mother f****.
WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade would jump at the chance to fight either of the Charlo brothers. We saw how both Charlos struggled to beat Austin Trout, who isn’t a big puncher. Andrade is an upgrade over Trout in size, speed, and in the power department. Jermell would be out of class dealing with Andrade, and it could end badly for him.
Charlo isn’t saying who he wants to fight when lockout ends for sports. Although Charlo says he’d interested in unification matches, he’s not mentioning any names.
Why wouldn’t Charlo call out IBF/WBA 154-lb champion Jeison Rosario, who is coming off 5th round knockout win over J-Rock? Jermell says he wants a unification match, but he doesn’t specifically mention Rosario’s name. That gives the appearance that Charlo isn’t serious about a unification fight, and that’s okay.
It’s safer for Charlo to take it easy by making simple title defenses of his WBC 154-b belt until the bitter end. When Charlo eventually is dethroned permanently, he’ll have done well in terms of the easy money fights he’s had during his career.
Charlo won’t take a tune-up when he returns
“No tune-ups, we’re getting right back in there when this corona s*** is over with,” said Charlo. “Don’t get it f*** up. I’m staying in shape. I’ll fight anybody, I promise you,” said Jermell.
Charlo needs to step it up with the level of opposition. Going into the first fight with Harrison, people thought he would beat him easily. In the past, Harrison had lost to Jarrett Hurd and Willie Nelson by 9th round knockout defeats.
Charlo couldn’t take Harrison out in their first fight, that looked bad on his part. An elite level 154-pounder is expected to beat the likes of Harrison by knockout, but Charlo failed.
It’s good news that Jermell doesn’t want a tune-up when he returns to the ring. That means if boxing restarts in 2021, he can take on Rosario, Lara, Patrick Teixeira, or Israil Madrimov. Those would all be great fights for Charlo to prove himself that he’s not a paper champion like many boxing fans see him.
If Premier Boxing Champions throws Charlo in with the talented guys at 154 like Erislandy Lara, Jarrett Hurd, Jeison Rosario, or Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams, he can lose.
Those are some fights that Charlo must look to take when he returns to the ring. After 13 years as a professional, Charlo should have fought Hurd, Lara, and J-Rock ages ago. It’s unclear why Charlo hasn’t faced any of those guys yet.
Some would say that Charlo should have two losses on his resume due to his win over Martirosyan being a controversial one.
