By Allan Fox: Trainer Ronnie Shields says his fighter WBC 160-lb champion Jermall Charlo doesn’t need to fight unbeaten former WBC 168-lb champion David Benavidez for him to get a fight with Canelo Alvarez.
They’re going to get the fight with Canelo anyway after his undisputed 168-lb clash against IBF champion Caleb Plant on September 18th. Shields insists that Canelo (56-1-2, 38 KOs) WILL be fighting the unbeaten Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) in his next match.
Shields says it doesn’t make “business sense” for Charlo to fight Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) because they’re already getting the mega-bout against the superstar Canelo without needing to fight him. So why fight Benavidez when the Canelo clash is already there?
Shields states that Benavidez brings nothing to the table for Jermall in terms of world titles at 168, so there would be nothing to gain from fighting him.
Benavidez lost his WBC 168-lb title last year on the scales when he failed to make weight for his title defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo, so he’s just a contender now.
Interestingly, Shields maintains that Benavidez needs Charlo to get a fight against Canelo but not the other way around. He might be right.
Canelo really wants the fight with Jermall, and it’s easy to see why after watching Charlo struggle to defeat #4 WBC contender Juan Macias Montiel last month on June 19th.
Jermall looked beatable in that fight, as he was hurt many times by Montiel with body shots.
Throwing body shots is Canelo’s specialty, which might be one reason why he’s licking his chops at the idea of fighting Jermall.
Shields says Jermall may move up to 168
“I don’t think that gets to him. What gets to him is he wants to fight the best fights out there that’s possible,” said Ronnie Shields to Fighthub on whether the criticism Jermall Charlo receives on social media bothers him about him not facing the top fighters.
“You move on. He’s still the champion of the world. When he came up, he was a contender.
“There are so many contenders out there that want fights. So you got to keep fighting, keep busy, and one day these big fights will happen.
“Look, he’s 31-years-old, he’s still a young guy, he still has a lot of patience,” said Shields when told that Jermall is getting up there in age, and he’s still not fighting the elite guys.
“One day soon, we may even be moving up in weight, so who knows? A funny thing happened a few days ago. I got a call during a podcast.
“He texted me first. I had no idea. He said, ‘I need to talk to you. Can you come on the podcast.’ So I went on the podcast.
“Who is on the podcast? It’s David Benavidez’s father. I know David is getting ready to fight soon.
“So his father [Jose Benavidez Sr.] came on and said, ‘Hey, I talked to Al Haymon [of Premier Boxing Champions], and I talked to Luis DeCubas Jr., and they said they’d make the fight between David [Benavidez] and Jermall.’
“I said, ‘You did? I wonder why I didn’t get a call? Because nobody called me about that.’ I said, ‘I’m going to find out.’
“So I called Al Haymon myself. Al said, ‘I don’t know where he’s [Jose Benavidez Sr.] getting that from. I haven’t talked to him.’
“And so he’s lying saying that he’s talked to Al Haymon about Jermall, and it’s not true. So he’s saying that to the public, but he’s not saying that to the people that it matters to,” said Shields about Jose Benavidez Sr.
Why this incident with Jose Benavidez Sr. would make trainer Shields so upset is the big question. It should have been a non-issue if it’s true that Benavidez Sr. is talking about the possibility of a Jermall fighting David Benavidez.
For it to get Shields so worked up, it makes you wonder if this is a fight that worries him.
It should worry Shields because Charlo could lose to Benavidez, particularly how he’s looked recently in his last two fights against Juan Macias Montiel and Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
David Benavidez offers Jermall nothing
“It would have been better if David Benavidez was still champion,” Shields said when asked if a fight between Benavidez and Jermall Charlo interests him.
“Because if Jermall beats him now, he just beat another opponent. Benavidez brings nothing to the table.
“He doesn’t have anything. He was champion of the world, but he lost his belt on the scale [in August 2020 for his fight against Roamer Alexis Angulo].
“Now he’s chasing trying to get the [WBC 168-lb title] belt back, and he has to go through Canelo to try and do that. So if we fight him, it doesn’t mean anything,” said Shields.
A win for Jermall Charlo over Benavidez would be huge, showing the boxing world that the Twin Charlo can beat arguably the #1 fighter in the 168-lb division.
Shields says that Charlo doesn’t need to fight with Benavidez to get to Canelo is overlooking what he stands to gain if he were to face him and win.
A victory for Jermall over Benavidez would put him in a better position at the negotiation table with Canelo. It would easily be the best victory of Jermall’s thirteen-year professional career.
Right now, you’d have to say that Austin Trout is probably Charlo’s best win or possibly Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Benavidez is a bigger name than either of those two, but he’s more dangerous.
If Charlo beats Benavidez, a future Canelo-Charlo fight will attract more interest from boxing fans. That would result in added pay-per-view buys on SHOWTIME or FOX PPV for Canelo vs. Jermall.
Ultimately, Charlo would make millions more in a fight with Canelo if he were to defeat Benavidez.
But there would be a ton of risk for Jermall in facing Benavidez, as he could lose that fight. If Jermall gets beaten by Benavidez, he could forget about ever fighting Canelo for the remainder of his career.
Shields sounds like he lacks confidence in Charlo that he can defeat Benavidez because if he felt he could win, he’d be pushing hard for the fight.
We didn’t hear Shields complaining that Jermall’s last two opponents Juan Macias Montiel and Sergiy Derevyanchenko, brought nothing to the table to him in terms of world titles.
Jermall could be next for Canelo after Plant
When told that if Jermall Charlo beats Benavidez, it would mean that he beat the #1 super middleweight in the world, and it would put him in a conversation with Canelo Alvarez, Shields said, “Jermall is always in a conversation with Canelo.
“Canelo came out there today and said that he wants to fight Caleb Plant and then Jermall Charlo.
“So why would Jermall need to go fight David Benavidez to get Canelo? What sense does that make?
“Why does he need Benavidez when we’re already going to get Canelo? You got to stick with what makes sense.
“It’s a fight that fans want to see, of course,” said Shields about a fight between Jermall and Benavidez. “Fans want to see good boxing, but at the same time, this is a business.
“So if you don’t have to go through him [Benavidez] to get to him [Canelo]? Why go through him when we don’t have to?
“He’s right there. Avoiding? Why? Who are we avoiding?” said Shields in denying that Jermall is avoiding Benavidez.
“In a business sense, we don’t need Benavidez to get to Canelo. If we needed Benavidez to get to Canelo, then we would have done that.
“Jermall is already the champion of the world. Benavidez is nobody; he has nothing. He has nothing to offer Jermall.
“So if he has nothing to offer, what do we need him for? We don’t need him to get to Canelo.
“But, he needs Jermall to get to Canelo, and we don’t. He’s the #1 contender, but Jermall is the world champion [at 160, not 168]. There’s a difference,” said Shields in giving his reasons why Jermall doesn’t need to fight Benavidez.
Shields assumes that Canelo will fight Jermall Charlo next if he successfully defeats Caleb Plant on September 18th. Canelo might not take that fight.
There are many difficult possible options for Canelo to take if he defeats IBF 168-lb champion Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) in September.