By Jeff Aronow: IBF/WBA/WBO 154-lb champion Jermell Charlo may need to delay his rematch with Brian Castano until 2022 because the IBF is ordering him to defend against his mandatory challenger Bakhram Murtazaliev. Unless Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) chooses to vacate his IBF belt, he’ll need to face the unbeaten Murtazaliev (19-0, 14 KOs) next.
Castano could face Tszyu
What this also means is the World Boxing Organization is likely to order WBO 154-lb champion, Castano, to defend against Tim Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) next.
Although the WBO hasn’t indicated whether they’ll make that move, they may. If they don’t, Tszyu could face former WBC 154lb champion, Tony Harrison, next, and then Castano in December.
Castano might be better off facing Tszyu before the WBO orders the fight because he will only get better by facing Harrison in September. Castano should consider facing Tszyu before he’s had a chance to pick up more experience.
Charlo vs. Murtazaliev will have 30 days to negotiate the clash before it goes to a purse bid. Again, Charlo can always give up the IBF belt and face Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) in an immediate rematch.
In terms of money, Charlo would be better off vacating his IBF belt and taking the rematch with Castano, as there’s a ton of interest in a second fight, and they could sell it on Showtime PPV.
Jermell’s stock has fallen
Charlo NEEDS the rematch with Castano, 31, in the worst way because the boxing world believes he was given a gift decision by the judges last Saturday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. In nine of the twelve rounds, Castano got the better of Charlo and looked like the clear winner at the end of the bout.
If Charlo does choose to face Murtazaliev next, he’ll have to live with the controversy that follows him.
Charlos’ stock dramatically dropped from that fight, given the oddball scoring for the fight by the three judges that worked it.
The one judge that scored the fight for Charlo 117-111 opened him to more criticism of having been given preferential treatment.
This might be a good thing for Jermell not to have to fight Castano in an immediate rematch because it’s such a bad style match-up for him. Jermell’s low work rate will always be a problem for him against a fighter like Castano.
That’s something that won’t change regardless of what Charlo said recently about how he’ll knock Castano out in the rematch. If Jermell doesn’t knock him out, he’ll be in the same boat at last time, getting outworked in every round of the fight.
Jermell’s Broner-eque anemic work rate doesn’t work against a fighter that throws over 70 punches per round the way Castano does. With Charlo throwing 20+ punches per round, he winds up getting buried by Castano’s high work rate.
Will Charlo attempt to swerve Murtazaliev?
We’ll soon see if Charlo’s adviser Al Haymon with Premier Boxing Champions will be able to persuade the IBF to allow him to temporarily swerve his mandatory Murtazaliev to face Castano in an immediate rematch.
What makes it unlikely the IBF will do this is the long amount of time that Murtazaliev has already been waiting for his mandated title shot. Also, the second Charlo vs. Castano fight could be just as exciting and controversial as the first.
If that’s the case, we’ll be right back where we started with Jermell’s management wanting to steer around Murtazaliev for another rematch with Castano. It could be endless, which is why the IBF should stand first and insist that Jermell face Murtazaliev next to take care of this commitment.
None of this would matter if the judges didn’t make a mess out of the scoring for last weekend’s Charlo vs. Castano fight.