By Jeff Aronow: Jermell Charlo came out with a statement on Instagram on Tuesday giving credit to Brian Castano for showing his talent, and he says he’ll give him a rematch.
Charlo isn’t saying where he wants the rematch with Castano to take place, but it’s likely he’ll use his A-side power position to insist on bringing it back to Texas.
For Castano, that would be the equivalent of returning to the scene of a crime, as he got the business last Saturday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
A Neutral venue is needed for the rematch
If he wants to avoid the possibility of another controversial outcome, Charlo should consider taking the rematch out of Texas and shoot for a neutral area of the U.S like California, Nevada, or New York.
We’ve already seen both Charlo twins dodge losses in fights they should have lost against Castano and Matt Korobov. If they’re smart, they won’t want to get a rep for being impossible to beat by decision due to favorable scoring.
Jermell says in the rematch he’ll knock Castano out as he did against Tony Harrison after losing to him the first time around. If Jermell is wrong, he can always give it a third try.
Assuming Jermell loses the rematch, it would be wise for him to admit that Castano is too good for him and walk away.
There are many top fighters that Jermell is capable of beating, guys like Erickson Lubin, Tim Tszyu, and Tony Harrison. He doesn’t need to have his career shortened in a bad-style match-up.
Although Charlo gave WBO junior middleweight champion Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) kudos, he threw in a comment about how he would have won the fight if the match were scored on who landed the harder shots.
Jermell sounded bitter, seemingly wanting to change the way fights are scored. Indeed, Jermell did land the harder shots, but he didn’t connect as often as Castano.
The judges were impressed with Castano’s ring IQ and how he was able to back Jermell up against the ropes repeatedly in rounds one through nine to control the action.
Jermell’s statement on Instagram
“Brian Castano is one hell of a better fighter than anyone gave him credit for, and he came to fight for his life Saturday.
“If fights are scored as a whole, I landed the harder and better shots, but boxing isn’t scored that way. Boxing is scored round by round.
“I’ve always said to take a belt from a champion, you need to take that belt, and the judges felt neither of us did enough to take those other belts, and they ruled a draw.
“I don’t want to become undisputed by a narrow controversial decision; I want to make a statement.
“I didn’t do my part to get the KO, and as always, I will continue to learn and improve. When we run it back, just like I adjusted in Harrison II, there will be no doubt about the result. #LionsOnly4L,” said Jermell.
Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) failed to address some of the irregularities in the fight, starting with the 117-111 score in his favor by judge Nelson Vazquez.
Jermell also didn’t discuss these problems with his fight with Castano fight last Saturday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas:
- The referee not ruling a knockdown in the third when Castano knocked Jermell into the ropes after hurting him with a left hook. He would have won the fight if the referee made the right call by giving Castano credit for a knockout.
- 10-8 score in round 10 in favor of Jermell despite Castano not being knocked down. If this judge gave Jermell credit for a 10-8 round, he should have done the same in round three when Castano had him hurt.
It was a poor job for not only the referee but the judges, all of them. There were missed calls, terrible scoring, and an all-around mess.
Interestingly, all the stuff that went wrong favored the home fighter Charlo. Is that an accident or just a coincidence? I know Castano volunteered to take the rematch to Charlo’s hometown of Houston, Texas, but he needs to rethink that idea unless he risks similar treatment.