By Matt Lieberman: Jermell Charlo is in negotiations for a unification fight against IBF/WBA 154-pound champion Jeison Rosario for September. ESPN is reporting the news on WBC junior middleweight champ Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) and Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs) in talks that are “moving well.”
The IBF has already accepted the Rosario-Charlo unification fight, which will allow Jeison to bypass his mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev.
On paper, Charlo has to be the favorite in this fight, as he’s someone that showed a steadiness in his performances in the last five years.
In contrast, Jeison Rosario has struggled in losing to Nathaniel Gallimore and fighting to a draw against Mark Anthony Hernandez.
The power and youth that Jeison has going for him make it a 50-50 fight against Charlo. Jeison is rugged, and he’s going to force Charlo to go to war with him. We haven’t seen Charlo take the kind of shots that Jeison is capable of landing on him, and he might fall apart.
Rosario with a six-fight winning streak
Jeison has looked good recently, winning his last six fights and coming off of a knockout win over Julian Williams earlier this year.
With just two months to go before the fight, ‘Banana’ Rosario and Charlo, 30, don’t have much time to prepare for this contest.
Jermell will have his chin tested in this fight by the powerful 25-year-old Jeison Rosario. He is coming off of a 5th round TKO win over IBF/WBA 154lb champion Julian ‘J-Rock-Williams on January 18.
The Dominican Republic fighter Rosario surprisingly knocked out J-Rock in the fifth round of a competitive fight.
Boxing News 24 is assuming that both fighters have been training hard during the lockdown, and are already in tip-top shape. Charlo never lets himself get fat and out of shape in between fights, unlike many other fighters. He takes his career seriously and makes sure he doesn’t let himself go physically in between contests.
Rosario is going to be a potentially tougher fight for Charlo than his last contest against Tony Harrison last December. Charlo stopped Harrison in the 11th round in a competitive battle, but one that was decided by Jermell’s power advantage.
Charlo coming off a win over Harrison
In Charlo’s first fight against Harrison in December 2018, Jermell lost a debatable 12 round unanimous decision in Brooklyn, New York. Charlo felt that he did enough to win, but the judges gave it to Harrison by the scores 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112.
Jerrell’s twin brother Jermall Charlo is in negotiations to defend his WBC middleweight title against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. It’s unknown at this time of Premier Boxing Champions will package the Jermell vs. Rosario and Charlo vs. Derevyanchenko fight on one card.
That would make it enjoyable if they did this, but it’s unlikely that they will. Jermall and Jermell both are popular with boxing fans in the U.S, and it might be a waste for PBC to have them both fighting on the same card unless it were on pay-per-view.
The Charlo brothers haven’t gotten to the level where they’re both fighting on PPV yet, but this would be one way for them to branch over.
Rosario’s only career loss is a 6th round TKO to Nathaniel Gallimore in 2017. Gallimore took advantage of Rosario’s fatigue and was able to drop him three times in the sixth, albeit with punches to the back of his head.
Going into the fight, Rosario had been knocking everyone out. The longest bout hed had up to that stage in his career was a four-round match. It was a case of Rosario not having the stamina needed for him to take on the experienced professional Gallimore.
Jeison has improved
Since then, Jeison has gone the 10 round distance twice against Justin DeLoach and Jamontay Clark in winning decisions. Also, Jeison fought to a six-round draw against Mark Anthony Hernandez in February 2018.
Rosario and Charlo have a familiar opponent in Jorge Cota. While Charlo knocked Cota out in three rounds last year in June, Rosario had a harder time ni beating him by a 10 round split decision in April of 2019.
With Rosario’s power, he’s capable of knocking out Charlo if he lands enough of his shots on the button. Rosario has got that kind of power to where he can end things quickly if he connects. Charlo has good power too, and he’s a more explosive fighter, who sets traps.
Harrison took advantage of Charlo’s tendency to try and slug too much by using his boxing skills to befuddle him at times in their two fights. Additionally, Harrison was able to capitalize on Charlo’s bad habit of getting over-emotional during his matches when he gets hit.
When Charlo would lose his temper, which was frequently, Harrison was able to jab him and control the rounds calmly.
For Charlo to beat Harrison, he’s going to need to keep his emotions in check and think with his head. If Charlo starts slugging with Jeison, he’ll be playing into his hands, and he could end up getting knocked out the same way J-Rock Williams was last January.
Jeison, 25, is the younger fighter, and he’s hitting the prime of his career. It might be hard for Charlo to beat at this stage in his career. If Jeison lands with the same kind of power that he showed in the J-Rock fight, Charlo won’t last long. Jeison hits too hard and devastating with his uppercuts.