Jermall Charlo says he’ll fight Canelo Alvarez at 168 if it makes sense

By Boxing News - 05/18/2021 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Jermall Charlo says he’d be willing to fight Canelo Alvarez at 168 if it makes sense for him to do it. However, Jermall’s first choice is for Canelo to come down to 160 to face him with his “legendary [Franchise] belt” on the line. Charlo, 31, isn’t in the position to call the shots against Canelo or Gennadiy Golovkin for a fight.

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime)

It’s not a good idea for Charlo to hold his breath waiting for Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) to return to the 160-lb division to face him because that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. As long as Charlo is hesitant about moving up to 168, he’ll be ignored by Canelo.

Canelo seems content fighting at 168, and he’s not going to melt down to fight a guy that arguably should have moved up to 168 a long time ago.

Jermall will be defending his title next month against #4 WBC Juan Macias Montiel )22-4-2, 22 KOs) on June 19th on Showtime Boxing from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Charlo has received a massive amount of ridicule from boxing fans for his choice of fighting Montiel rather than Demetrius Andrade or any number of top fighters at 160 and 168.

The boxing public views Charlo’s choice of Montiel as further proof that he’s milking his WBC title, and not taking risks the way his twin brother Jermell Charlo is.

Jermell is on the verge of becoming the undisputed 154-lb champion. In the eyes of many boxing fans, Jermell is seen as the far bigger risk-taker of the Charlo twins.

Charlo not worried about stopping Montiel

“If he can’t take a punch I deliver, then we’ll lay him out,” said Jermall Charlo to Fighthype when asked if he’ll knockout Montiel. “I come to fight, and I’m prepared for 12 rounds.

Image: Jermall Charlo says he'll fight Canelo Alvarez at 168 if it makes sense

“It’s just a matter of time. A fighter like Montiel is more challenging to get in there to get the job done real lean and spiffy.

“If I look bad against a guy like this, it’ll take away from the Derevyanchenko fight. Up to this date, that [Sergiy Derevyanchenko] was a hard fight. I made nice work of it. On to the next one,” said Charlo.

Given the weak opponent that Charlo is facing on June 19th, he’s in a position where he’ll look bad if he doesn’t destroy him.

Jamie Munguia obliterated Montiel in two rounds in 2017. Montiel has failed to distinguish himself in fights against Hugo Centeno Jr and Marco Reyes.

Although Montiel did stop James Kirkland in the first round last December, that fighter is 37-years-old and way past his prime at this point in his career.

Charlo is getting a fast reputation as that of a cherry picker, who fights weak opposition exclusively. Since moving up to 160, Charlo has wins over these fighters:

  • Brandon Adams
  • Sergiy Derevyanchenko
  • Dennis Hogan
  • Jorge Sebastian Heiland
  • Hugo Centeno Jr
  • Matt Korobov

Jermall says Canelo and GGG will eventually fight him

“I got the belt,” said Charlo when asked about Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez. “Champions fight champions, we unify. If not, we’re not just going to sit back and say lack of nothing.

Image: Jermall Charlo says he'll fight Canelo Alvarez at 168 if it makes sense

“Those guys that have belts like GGG and Canelo, Andrade, the belts are out there, so eventually, it’ll happen. I’m not in a rush, I’m young [31-years-old], having fun and I’m enjoying what I do best.

“That’s a good question, you should ask him that because I honestly don’t know,” said Jermall in response to being asked why Golovkin won’t fight him. “If he wants this WBC, I have it. It’s open, I’m ready to fight,” said Jermall.

At 31, you can’t call Jermall Charlo a young fighter because he’s a year older than the 30-year-old Canelo Alvarez.

Charlo has done a lot less with his career than Canelo, thanks to the way he’s been matched by his promoters. Jermall should be in a hurry with his career, and it’s troubling when you hear him saying “I’m not in a rush.

That lackadaisical attitude that Charlo has is precisely why he’s in his 12th year as a professional and the best name he has on his resume is Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams.

Golovkin and Canelo aren’t interested in Charlo’s WBC belt enough for them to want to bother dealing with the promotional/network issues to make a fight with him. Jermall sounds like he doesn’t know what time it is.

These guys don’t care about his WBC belt because it’s not enough of a lure for them to bother fighting a no-name who plays it safe by choosing beatable opposition every time out.

Charlo willing to fight Canelo at 168 

“It was Canelo being Canelo,” said Jermall about Canelo Alvarez’s recent win over Billy Joe Saunders.

“It seems like Billy Joe’s game plan wasn’t to go in there and get his eye broke. Canelo landed a good shot, and it’s boxing right? I think I match up well with him.

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“I’m at 160 pounds, and Canelo is at 168 and 175. If he ever comes back down [to middleweight], maybe we could fight for the legendary [Franchise] belt that they [World Boxing Council] gave him.

“If the fight makes more sense for me to go up to 168 to fight Canelo, then, yes, I’m open for it.

“But right now, I’ve got a task at hand against Montiel. I’m not thinking about Canelo right now. I’m thinking about getting the job done and then we’ll go from there,” Charlo said.

It sounds like Charlo doesn’t realize that he’s the B-side for a fight with Canelo. He’s not even B-side, he’s C-side for a clash against Canelo. For Canelo, a B-side fighter would be someone that brings something to the table like GGG.

Jermall says Demetrius Andrade is a “Horrible fighter”

“That guy, I don’t know what to say about him,” said Charlo about Demetrius Andrade showing up at Canelo’s post-fight press conference to call him out after his win over Saunders.

“He needs to do things like that to get himself relevant because nobody cares for his fights. He’s in a bad situation.

“As Canelo said, he’s a horrible fighter,” said Charlo about Andrade.