Jeison Rosario wants Jermell Charlo unification fight

By Boxing News - 05/11/2020 - Comments

By Allan Fox: IBF/WBA junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario wants to face WBC champion Jermell Charlo to unify the 154-pound division as soon as possible.

Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs) recently won the IBF and WBA belts in defeating champion Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams by a fifth-round knockout on January 18 in a big upset win.

Rosario overpowered J-Rock with his powerful hooks and pressure to stop him in round five. It was an excellent win for Rosario, who put his name on the map in that fight.

For his part, Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) recaptured his WBC 154-pound title with an 11th round knockout victory over champion Tony Harrison in Ontario, California. The win for Charlo avenged his close 12 round decision loss to Harrison from 2018.

Image: Jeison Rosario wants Jermell Charlo unification fight

Rosario wants Charlo’s WBC title

“I felt like I could win the fight if it went to a decision or by knockout. By any means, I felt like I could win, but I prepared myself to go out and get the victory and not leave it in the hands of the judges,” said Rosario to Premier Boxing Champions on his win over Julian Williams.

“It didn’t surprise me that he was coming forward and was aggressive. I know that Julian Williams was very confident heading into that fight against me. Still, no, it didn’t surprise me that Julian Williams was aggressive and walking towards me, but I was prepared for it.

“In every aspect of life, things changed, from the financial standpoint to my family, it totally changed,” said Rosario in talking how his life has changed since beating Williams. “I made the fans believers.

“And I will do what my promoter Samson says. I know he’s having a few conversations in regards to my career. He’s going to let me know in regards to what my next steps are. I’m familiar with Jermell Charlo. He wants my title, and I want his title,” said Rosario.

If Rosario can pull off an upset in defeating Charlo, it would be an even bigger win than his victory over Williams. Some boxing fans wouldn’t even call it an upset if Rosario won because he’s a talented fighter with significant power in both hands, and ye’s five years younger than Charlo.

Although Charlo has looked recently, he lost to Harrison in 2018, and he had close calls against Vanes Martirosyan and Austin Trout.

Rosario wants to unify the 154-pound division

“I want to unify the 154-pound division. I think the 154-pound division is one of the best in all of the sports,” said Rosario. “You look at the names I mentioned. Erickson, Lubin, and Tony Harrison, they are all competent and talented fighters. I think 154 is an extremely deep division.

“My objective, if I have my choice, is Jermell Charlo,” said Rosario. “He is the best in the division, and I want to prove that I am truly the best at 154. It doesn’t matter to me if the fight fans are there or not there.

“My preparation and concentration are going to be the same with or without fans. Nothing is going to change on my end. My only focus is to become the undisputed super welterweight of the world.

“Now I’m working out twice a day with my trainer. I’m putting in the work in the afternoon. I’m heading to the United States tomorrow to begin my training camp fully,” said Rosario. “But right now, the only thing on my mind is Jermell Charlo, and that is a major motivating factor for me, knowing that is potentially in front of me,” said Rosario.

Hopefully, Rosario’s promoter lets him face Charlo in a unification match. The only way Rosario is going to become a household name in the United States if he defeats a famous fighter like Charlo.

Going after WBO champion Patrick Teixeira won’t do it for Rosario. He needs a win over Charlo, who is arguably the top dog at 154 now.

Image: Jeison Rosario wants Jermell Charlo unification fight

Jeison not ready t move to 160

“We’re all going to learn a lot and be safe and protect ourselves. Right now, I don’t have any problems making 154. It’s not hard for me to make the weight. My focus is to collect all the belts in the super welterweight division.

“Once I do that and have all of them in my possession, then I’m going to turn to my trainer, my promoter, and my manager,” said Rosario.

“Then we’re going to decide if it’s advantageous for me to move up to 160 or stay here at 154. But as of now, I have no plans to move up to 160. My focus is 154, and collecting all the championships,” said Rosario.

There’s no reason for Rosario to move up to middleweight yet, considering that he still has three or four good fights left before he needs to think about moving up.

These are the fights waiting for Rosario:

  • Jermell Charlo
  • Tony Harrison
  • Jarrett Hurd
  • Patrick Teixeira
  • Erickson Lubin
  • Erislandy Lara
  • Israil Madrimov

Charlo happy Rosario wants to face him

“I don’t care,” said Jermell Charlo to Ray Flores at Premier Boxing Champions when told that Rosario wants to fight him next. “Remember, his manager said that he doesn’t want to fight me right away if you know the facts. I’m glad they’re ready to fight.

“I’m in shape. Do you see me? I’m always in shape, PBC. Come on, man. We do this for a reason,” said Charlo when told that Rosario wants his WBC title. “I’m here to eat. I’m cool with everything they’ve got to say. We don’t want to put any fear in him. We want him to come and fight, and it’s been a dream to have all of the belts.

“If it’s that easy, thank you. I’m just going to tell the man above, thank you. He’s going to end up overtraining,” said Jermell when told that Jeison is coming to the U.S to begin training for him. “We’re going to fight this year, that’s all I can say. If we don’t fight this year, then we’re going to fight soon.

“We’re always going to be ready. My birthday is coming up, and we’re getting ready to be 30. So, I don’t have time to be playing games. It’s time for me to get all of the belts and become the cash cow and do what I got to do to let the young ones have it,” said Charlo.

It doesn’t get any better than this for Charlo, as he won’t have to chase Rosario to set up a fight. When Jaime Munguia held the WBO title, Charlo would never get a fight against him. It’s better for Charlo that he doesn’t need to push hard for the Rosario fight because he already wants that match.

Image: Jeison Rosario wants Jermell Charlo unification fight

Jermell staying in shape during the lockdown

“I love my fans, and I have fans that I love,” said Jermell. “They’re not haters. Most of them love me now. That’s what Floyd [Mayweather] did. He turned all the haters into lovers, and I have seen a whole bunch of that happen. I got the [WBC 154-pound title back], and all of that.

“To answer that question about Rosario and what he did to Williams, that s*** it old now. It’s past that. Life has changed for a lot of people, and I’m great at adapting to things. So yeah, you got to be in shape to be in this game.

“It’s not going to work if you don’t stay in shape. Stay tuned, and we’re going to get back in the ring when we can. It’s not easy. They got to get this stuff together first before they can decide to get it back together.

“And when they do, I know there’s a lot of hungry fighters and ready to box, and that’s what boxing is right now. This is a new era of kings. They don’t have a lot of fighters like me, so we’re in this thing. Lions forever,” said Charlo.

Jermell needs to stay in shape because when boxing restarts, he needs to be one of the first fighters out of the gate. Charlo hasn’t fought in 2020 yet. He doesn’t want to lose an entire year of his career due to the pandemic. He’ll be turning 30 this month on May 19, and he can’t afford to lose out this year.

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