By Chris Williams: Jermell Charlo is looking powerful, training for his undisputed 154-lb championship next month on March 19 against Brian Castano in the main event at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Jermell’s IBF, WBA & WBC junior middleweight titles will be on the line against Castano’s WBO strap in this four-belt championship match on Premier Boxing Champions.
WBC, WBA, and IBF World Champion Jermell Charlo and WBO World Champion Brian Castaño will meet in a rematch for undisputed status at 154-pounds on Saturday, March 19 from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, headlining a Premier Boxing Champions event.
The rematch occurs due to a controversial draw in their previous fight a year ago on July 17th, at the AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas.
Charlo (34-1-1,18 KOs) got the better of the action when the two were in the center of the ring, but Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) fought well he would pin him against the ropes to unload.
Many boxing fans felt that Jermell, 31, had done enough to deserve the win because he landed the harder, cleaner shots and had Castano hurt several times in the fight.
The one judge that scored it for Castano 114–113 was impressed with his high volume work rate rather than the harder punches from Charlo. Chris Williams agreed with the judge that scored it 117-111 for Jermell, as he looked like the better fighter of the two. The third judge scored it a draw at 114-114.
In a recent interview with K.O Artists Sports, Castano said, “Yes, I think so [will need a knockout to win against Charlo]. “I’m going to need to win clearly.
“Seven rounds, I won. It was 7-5,” Castano said. “It was, after all, a fight where I carried. I took the initiative. He boxed, retreating from the outside.”
What Castano is saying is that he’s going to go in there looking for a knockout of Jermell, and he’s going to knock him out this time. That is to say; the Argentinian Castano isn’t going to leave it in the judges on March 19th.
If Castano goes all out for a knockout, he’s going to be putting himself at risk against the more brutal punching Charlo, meaning he’s likely to get stopped himself.
Castano, 32, had his best success when he crowed Jermell, not allowing him to get the leverage on his shots that he needed to generate maximum power.
If Castano forces Charlo to fight on the inside, he’s got a chance of knocking him out. Jermell can’t punch in close, and his inside game isn’t on the same level as Castano’s.
With that said, Castano isn’t going to keep the fight inside because Charlo will be changing angles and not allowing him to use his smothering style.
Brian Castano did hurt Charlo during one instance during their fight last July when he had him against the ropes. Castano showed that he could hurt Jermell with his best shot, but he couldn’t follow up to get him out of there.
Chris Williams doesn’t think Castano will hurt Jermell in the rematch, mainly if the action is conducted from the outside all night.
The way Castano sounds bitter, complaining of being given a bad deal last time out against Jermell, he’s going to fight a lot more aggressively in the rematch.
If Charlo makes the same mistake of allowing Castano to repeatedly back him up against the ropes like last time, we may see the Argentinian score a knockout.
Logically, Jermell has the better chance of scoring a knockout in this fight because he already proved that he could hurt Castano last time. Also, Castano will give Charlo plenty of opportunities to land his crushing power shots in the rematch by being overly aggressive.