Jermall Charlo calls out Gennadiy Golovkin for unification fight at 160

By Boxing News - 10/25/2021 - Comments

By Sean Jones: WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo calls out Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin for a unification fight. Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) wants to add the 39-year-old Golovkin’s IBF 160-lb title to his collection if the fight can be made.

“Let’s make it happen,”  said Jermall in calling out Golovkin on social media.

Getting Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) to agree to a unification match with the 31-year-old Charlo could prove difficult if not impossible, as it’s believed that he’s waiting for his December 31st unification fight against inactive WBA ‘Super World’ middleweight champion Ryota Murata on December 31st in Japan.

Charlo: I don’t want to pick on an older man

I can add GGG because look what I did to [Sergiy] Derevyanchenko, who they said had a hard time with him,” said Charlo about Golovkin.

“I just don’t want to pick on an older man [Golovkin] and make it look like I’m going for a weaker fight, but he does have a belt. There’s a time to unify.

“If there’s a time to unify before he [Golovkin] runs out of gas, then I’m here to fight him. Like you were saying, my legacy is on the line.

“So, I fight for my legacy, and I fight for the people whole love me, and that’s what I’m doing,” said Charlo.

It sounds like Jermall is a little conflicted about calling out the soon-to-be 40-year-old GGG.

On the one hand, Charlo wants to capture Golovkin’s IBF middleweight title to add to his collection. Still, on the other hand, it doesn’t sit right with him to be picking on an older fighter now that is soon to be categorized as a Quadragenarian [person in their 40s].

Jermall won’t get the credit for beating Golovkin now that he would have if he’d stepped up to the plate five to ten years ago when he was still young and firing on all eight cylinders.

In Golovkin’s last three fights, he’s looked like a shadow of the fighter he once was, battling Steve Rolls, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and Kamil Szeremeta.

Golovkin arguably lost his fight with Derevyanchenko in October 2019 but was surprisingly given a controversial 12 round unanimous decision.

If Derevyanchenko were as popular as Canelo Alvarez, Golovkin likely would have lost because he looked like the loser in that fight.

Why isn’t Charlo calling out Andrade?

Boxing fans want to know WHY Jermall is calling out Golovkin right now and not WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade.

Golovkin has an excuse for not fighting Charlo because he’s facing Murata in December. Still, Andrade will soon be freed up after wiping out fringe contender Jason Quigley next month on November 19th.

The 35-year-old  Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) hasn’t fought in two years since 2019, and for some bizarre reason, the World Boxing Association hasn’t stripped him of his title.

Image: Jermall Charlo calls out Gennadiy Golovkin for unification fight at 160

It’s not convenient for the contenders in the WBA’s top 15 rankings to have a champion like Murata sit on his belt for two solid years without defending it, but I guess they have their basis for letting him sit on their title.