Fighters react to Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano results

By Boxing News - 07/18/2021 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Fighters and promoters reacted negatively to Jermell Charlo being given a 12 round split draw against Brian Castano last Saturday night in their 154-lb unification clash at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Overwhelmingly, the fighters had the visiting fighter WBO junior middleweight champion Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) doing enough to earn the victory in their eyes.

Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) seemed in denial afterward, believing that he’d done more than enough to rate the victory in his headliner on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing.

In the end, the judges had the last say, scoring it 114-113 Castano, 117-111 Jermell, 114-114 draw. This writer Sean Jones had Castano winning 116-112. Charlo fought well enough to deserve four rounds at best, but no more than that.

Jermell predicts he’ll knock out Castano in the rematch

Interestingly, Jermell says he thinks he’ll knockout Castano in a rematch, but he’s not committing to a second fight with him. Jermell says he needs to speak with his manager Al Haymon to decide what direction he wants to take.

Image: Fighters react to Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano results

If Haymon decides against Charlo fighting Castano again, it would mean that he’s giving up on his goal of becoming the undisputed champion at 154.

Jermell hurt Castano badly in the 10th round; he didn’t have the ability to put him away. If Jermell had a better engine, he might have stopped Castano, but he didn’t throw enough punches after hurting him.

In watching that fight, it’s hard to imagine Jermell’s twin brother Jermall Charlo not putting Castano away if he had him in a similar position.

Although Jermall Charlo is a flawed fighter, he’s a great finisher when he has an opponent hurt, and he’s busier in terms of throwing more shots. Jermell is too economical for his own good.

You can argue that if Jermall were the one fighting last night instead of Jermell, he would have knocked out Castano.

After watching Jermell struggle against Castano, Jeison Rosario, and Tony Harrison, it’s fair to say that Jermall is the better fighter of the Charlo twins.

“I possibly do; I think I knock him out in the rematch,” said Jermell Charlo to Fighthype when asked if he’ll stop Castano in a second fight. “I’ll be way more active, way more stronger. My confidence will be on a whole another level.”

Image: Fighters react to Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano results

Fighters react to Charlo vs. Castano results

Andre Ward

“Great fight. Close fight. I want to see a rematch. I had Castano winning. 117-111 was a terrible scorecard, terrible! Judge Nelson Vazquez needs to be sat down. That wasn’t a mistake; that was incompetence.”

For Andre Ward to say that he had Castano winning the fight, it’s pretty special. Ward is an excellent judge of fights, and if he feels that Jermell DIDN’T do enough to rate the victory last Saturday night, it means that Castano should have gotten his hand raised.

Ward brings up a good point by mentioning the oddball 117-111 scorecard turned in by judge Nelson Vazquez, who had Jermell winning the fight by an astonishing 9 rounds to 3 scores.

There are no words to describe how baffling that scorecard is by Vazquez, who turned in a score that didn’t match the fight.

Shawn Porter

“7-5 Castano.”

Sergio Mora

“Getting a draw in Texas against a Texan means you won convincingly. They just can’t let you leave with a victory.”

Julian Williams

“I thought Castano won by letting his hands go and outworking Charlo, but they are in Texas.”

Lou DiBella

“117-111 Charlo was filled out before the fight. Just awful. Other two scores were within reason. Draw was kind to Charlo, but it could have been worse.”

Jermell needs to move up to 160

In fairness to Jermell, he looked drained at the weigh-in last Friday. Maybe it’s time for him to move up to 160 because he’s normally a lot better than this.

YouTube video

If this fight took place a couple of years ago when Jermell was still in his 20s, this writer could see him winning handily.

But at 31, Jermell looks like he’s starting to struggle at the 154-lb weight. I think he would be stronger at 160, and he would have excellent chances to get high-profile fights against 160-lb champions Gennadiy Golovkin and Demetrius Andrade.

If Jermell chooses to stay at 154 much longer, he’s going to get beaten by someone, and that’s going to ruin his chances for the money fights at 160. Jermell should have lost last Saturday night against Castano, but he got lucky with the scoring.

Being at home in Texas might have saved Jermell from suffering his second career defeat.