Tim Bradley predicts Jermell Charlo stops Brian Castano in 9th round

By Boxing News - 07/17/2021 - Comments

By Max Schramm: Argentinian Brian Castano and Jermell Charlo will be fighting tonight for all the four major belts at junior middleweight. WBO 154lb champion Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) is putting his title on the line against Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs) for his IBF, WBA & WBC belts.

ESPN analyst Tim Bradley is picking the American Charlo, 31, to come out victorious with a knockout by the ninth round at the latest in his undisputed 154-lb battle against Castano on SHOWTIME Boxing at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The live event begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

Bradley knows a thing or two about boxing, having captured world titles in two divisions during his 12-year professional career.

Tim has analyzed the ability of both fighters, and he thinks Jermell will have too much for the 31-year-old Castano to deal with when they punch it out in the headline bout tonight. With that said, Bradley has been wrong before, and he’ll be wrong again.

We don’t know whether Charlo will win because he’s already been beaten by arguably lesser fighter than Castano in Tony Harrison, and Vanes Martirosyan gave Jermell massive problems in 2015.

Image: Tim Bradley predicts Jermell Charlo stops Brian Castano in 9th round

Bradley expecting Charlo to KO Castano

“I think Charlo wins this fight in emphatic fashion, and I think it is going to be a KO,” said Bradley to ESPN. “Charlo wins in eight or nine rounds. He’s going to catch Castano with something nasty, either an uppercut or a straight right hand.

“I think the person that is able to make the proper adjustments is the one that’s going to win this fight,” Bradley continued.

After losing to Harrison by a disputed 12 round decision in 2018, Jermell has bounced back with three consecutive wins to capture the IBF, WBA & WBC 154-lb belts.

In this era of boxing, it’s surprising to watch how quickly Jermell has accumulated three world titles at junior middleweight.

With the politics in the sport preventing title fights from being made, Charlo has had great luck in facing the other belt-holders without signing his life away.

Now, all Jermell needs are to win the final WBO title to become the undisputed champion at 154, but for him to do that, he has to get past Castano.

It won’t be easy for Jermell and not as simple as Bradley makes it out to be. Castano is a fighter that arguably beat Erislandy Lara in 2019 in a fight that was scored a controversial 12 round draw.

If that version of Castano shows up tonight, Jermell will likely go down in defeat.

Lara looked better in that fight than what we’ve seen of Jermell, who has been winning fights largely on his power rather than his boxing ability.

If Castano can handle Jermell’s power, it might be a hard fight for the Texas native, and he could be the one that gets knocked out by the ninth round.

Image: Tim Bradley predicts Jermell Charlo stops Brian Castano in 9th round

Tim impressed by Jermell’s technical skills

“I honestly feel both guys have the ability to do so, but I would say that Charlo is a little more technical and cleaner with his combinations,” said Bradley.

It’s unclear whether Bradley has the twin Charlo brothers confused or not, but Jermall is the one that throws combinations.

Jermell is more of a one-punch at a time fighter who throws jabs and then loads up on single power shots.

Compared to his brother Jermall, Jermell is very economical with his shots, and he’s clearly not a combination puncher. If Jermell wins this fight, he’ll do it by catching Castano with a big shot that will hurt him.

He’s not going to beat Castano by outworking him because he can’t do that. Castano throws over three times as many punches per round than Jermell.

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“I think he will be able to make better adjustments,” said Bradley in picking Jermell to win.