Jermall Charlo being avoided by Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin?

By Boxing News - 09/28/2020 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (31-0, 18 KOs) showed that he’s on the level of Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin last Saturday night with his decisive 12 round unanimous decision in over Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs). Charlo beat the Ukrainian fighter by the scores 116-112, 117-111, and 118-110.

In the eyes of many boxing fans, Derevyanchenko, 34, came into the contest with Charlo with an unbeaten 15-0 record because of his two defeats were both controversial 12 round decisions to Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs.

But after Charlo got through with Derevyanchenko, he had his first actual defeat, and there were no arguments from the fans or the critics about the outcome. Both Derevyanchenko’s eyes were nearly swollen shut, and he had been taken to school by the superior boxer and puncher in Charlo.

If Jermall can’t get a fight against Golovkin or Canelo in his next bout, then he could end up defending against #1 WBA contender Chris Eubank Jr, who has already said that he wants to fight Jermall. That would be a good match-up for Charlo, but it probably won’t be as competitive as his fight last Saturday against Derevyanchenko.

Image: Jermall Charlo being avoided by Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin?

Charlo wants Golovkin and Canelo

With Derevyanchenko out of the way, Charlo is ready to take on Golovkin and Canelo so that he can show that he’s the best fighter at 160. That seems to have already been decided with his win. However, getting Golovkin and Canelo to agree to fight Charlo would seem to be impossible.

Canelo deserves a pass right now because he’s tied down with litigation with his lawsuit against DAZN, Golden boy Promotions, and Oscar De La Hoya, and he can’t fight Jermall, 30, even if he wanted to. We don’t know when Canelo’s case will be over, but he’s likely done for the remainder of 2020.

Golovkin doesn’t have an excuse. He hasn’t fought in 11 months since his controversial 12 round unanimous decision win over Derevyanchenko last October, and he’s just been sitting outside of the ring, resting on his laurels. There’s no reason why IBF 160-lb champion Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) can’t negotiate a unification match against WBC middleweight champion Charlo.

The IBF likely wouldn’t stand in the way of Golovkin facing Jermall in a unification bout with the two titles on the line. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like GGG wants that fight. He’s never shown interest in facing Jermall when he came up the ranks as a contender in the World Boxing Council’s rankings.

Golovkin is supposed to be returning to the ring on November 21st to defend his IBF strap against little known mandatory Kamil Szeremeta.  Boxing fans wouldn’t mind if GGG forgot about Szeremeta and instead face Jermall in a unification. It would be more beneficial to Golovkin’s career to vacate his IBF title and face Charlo than it would be for him to meet Szeremeta.

Image: Jermall Charlo being avoided by Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin?

Jermall beat Derevyanchenko easier than Golovkin and Jacobs did

“The whole world understands that I can fight in there with the best of them. He gave GGG [Gennadiy Golovkin] a harder test than he gave me so I think the levels showed. I’m the best middleweight in the world.”

Is Golovkin afraid of fighting Charlo? Who knows? All we know is Golovkin is talking about wanting to fight Charlo, and he’s never set up a fight with him since he moved up to 160 in 2017 and defeated Jorge Sebastian Heiland by a fourth-round knockout in a WBC middleweight title eliminator.

Golovkin was the WBC 160-lb champion until 2018 when Canelo dethroned him. GGG could have defended his WBC title against Jermall in 2017 or 2018 if he had wanted to, but instead, he went in another direction in fighting Canelo and Vanes Martirosyan.

WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade would be an excellent choice for Charlo if he can get the fight, but he’s on a different network platform with him signed to DAZN.

Image: Jermall Charlo being avoided by Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin?

We’re probably not going to see Canelo, Golovkin, or Andrade step up to the plate to take on Charlo in the future, and he’s going to be forced to move up to 168. If Charlo moves up to super-middleweight, then his best option would be a fight against the fearless former WBC 168lb champion David Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs).