By Sean Jones: WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs) joined his brother Jermall Charlo in victory on Saturday night in knocking out IBF/WBA 154-lb champion Jeison ‘Banana’ Rosario (20-2, 13 KOs) in the 8th round on SHOWTIME pay-per-view at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Charlo, 30, hit Rosario with a stabbing jab to the body that he was unprepared for in the 8th, and the shot put him down. Referee Harvey Dock then halted the fight at 0:21 of the 8th.
Charlo also dropped the 25-year-old Rosario in the 1st and 6th round. However, the knockdown in round one looked like a slip, but the referee, Dock, blew the call.
Dock played a big part in tonight’s fight with him, warning Rosario about his body shots, which he felt were low.
Charlo had his trucks pulled up high to limit the area where he could be hit, so a lot of the shots that appeared low, was in the legal part.
Jermell kept looking at the referee for help frequently when he was getting hit by body shots from Rosario. It was pretty evident that Charlo didn’t like the body shots one bit.
Up until the stoppage, Rosario looked like he was winning the fight with the pressure that he was applying to Charlo. Rosario was giving him a lot of problems by coming forward and nailing with combinations. Although Rosario was hurt in the 6th by a big hot from Charlo, he came back in the seventh to get the better of him.
“I did good. I utilized my game plan, I listened to my coach, and I did everything he told me to do,” said Jermell in talking about his win over Rosario at the post-fight news conference.
“The sky’s the limit for me. I know I’ve got more work to do, and more learning to do. Rosario is a tough opponent for anybody. He’d get in there and dominate anybody. I’ll figure out what we do next, but tonight was amazing.
“It’s no trouble. That’s what boxing is. You just got to stay composed,” said Charlo when asked about his thoughts on Rosario constantly coming forward all night.
“I got in there, I stayed composed, and I listened to my coach. I didn’t let each knockdown to make me get in there and make mistakes. He was a live animal at all times.
“I hope, man,” said Charlo in responding to a question whether him being on pay-per-view is something that will be happening more. “I hope this is something new for the world of boxing.
“I pray that everybody gets a chance to get in there and fight because the pandemic is crazy, and it’s stopping a lot of things. Anybody that works in boxing, anything can change. If this is the new era of pay-per-view, let me be the man. I’ll handle the job.
“No,” Charlo said when asked if he’ ever seen anyone get knocked out by a body shot the way Rosario was. “I was low-blowed so many times. I just thought, ‘Let me stick to what I’m doing.
“Stephen Espinoza [of Showtime] just walked up, and he thought me and my brother were going to lose. I can’t wait for him to come over here and congratulate me. But I didn’t even get to hear your question.
“I’ve never seen it [the body shot knockout], and no one else has seen it. Something must have been done to him [Rosario] prior to that in the earlier rounds. That’s it. I’ve never seen it,” said Jermell.
“I definitely proved that I’m more than a puncher, but I also proved that I’m a puncher. I also stuck to my game plans. Today, I grade myself because I listened to my coach. I say ‘A’ because everything he told me to do in training camp, I did. I pushed myself this whole way through. It’s been a journey for me.
“I got these beautiful belts in front of me, and all I can think of is my family sitting at home, and that wasn’t allowed to come here because of the COVID protocol. I’m definitely bringing home the straps as they told me to do.
“I can definitely say that if you’re not made for boxing, don’t come to The Bubble. You’re going to be isolated; you’re going to be by yourself.
“You’re just going to be focused on training and losing weight. If you didn’t get your training done at home, it’s not going to be done in The Bubble. It’s going to separate the boys from the men, for sure.
“I just knew that he was going to keep coming, and he did,” said Jermell about his first-round knockdown of Rosario. “He pressed on for an extra four or five rounds before I was able to knock him down again. I’m growing, and I realize that the knockdown comes.
“I knew for a fact that I have explosive power in each one of my hands. Tonight, I utilized my jab more than any other punch, and that’s what got me all of these straps.
“I feel like he does have big hands, he does hit hard, but it wasn’t about that. When you wear a fighter down, and you know how to take it out of them. That’s kind of what I did.
“I think it was a little bit due to previous punches that I had thrown,” said Charlo about his body shot knockout of Rosario. “That jab got into it, and that body shot that landed must have hit an accurate point.
“I don’t know. It seemed like he was having a seizure towards the end of the count. I wish him well. Any man that steps in the ring, I give them respect because we’re trying to feed our family, and this is how we do it.
“I hope he recovers and bounces back, but leave me alone at 154. I’m the man. Lions only, that’s how we do it. We’ve been doing this for a long time. As I said, ‘dreams do come true.’
“I believe this is part of my dream and part of my destiny. I’m excited, and I’m happy. My twin brother [Jermall] is excited. He won tonight. We’re going to go do our Bubble turnup and be back at home with our family—big shoutout to Errol Spence.
“He pushed me and continued to push me. He’s a hard-working individual. Dereck James doesn’t stop. We utilize camp in the perfect way. We stuck together. We all stuck together. I can’t think him enough.
“I don’t know,” said Jermell when asked who’s next for him. “I’m going to talk to all these sanctioning bodies and find out what’s going on. I’m the linear champion of the light-middleweight division. I hold the crown, and I’m the king. I’ll talk with my team and see what’s next. Lion’s Only Promotion. We about to take over in boxing. We’re the new era in boxing,” said Jermell Charlo.
It’s got to be disappointing for Rosario because he was fighting well despite being knocked down twice. He was walking Charlo down and giving him all kinds of problems with his body shots. Unfortunately for Rosario, he wasn’t ready for the body shot in the 8th, which badly hurt him.
Tonight was another example of Charlo looking bad in winning. He seems to be vulnerable each time he fights, and tonight was no exception. Rosario appeared to win rounds 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Charlo’s best rounds were 1, 6, and 8. Those happened to be rounds where Charlo scored knockdowns.
In winning the fight, Charlo is now the IBF, WBA, and WBC junior middleweight champion. The only title that’s out of Jermell’s grasp is the WBO strap held by Patrick Teixeira. If Charlo wants a piece of that strap, Premier Boxing Champions will need to make it worthwhile for Teixeira to take the fight.
If PBC offers to put the Charlo-Teixeira fight on pay-per-view, then perhaps they’ll be able to get Teixeira to agree to take it. Apart from that, it’s unclear whether Patrick will.
Instead of collecting titles from fighters that the casual boxing fans have never heard of, as we saw tonight with Charlo beating little known Rosario, Jermell should focus on fighting well-known guys.
Fans would like to see Jermell fight these fighters:
- Jarrett Hurd
- Brian Castano
- Tim Tszyu
- Kell Brook
- Erislandy Lara
