By Dan Ambrose: Jermall Charlo is suddenly pouring on the compliments, seemingly smothering Canelo Alvarez with love lately during interviews. Jermall says Canelo isn’t a ducker, and he doesn’t know where people came up with that label for him.
WBC 160-lb champion Jermall, who was bypassed for a big-money fight against Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs), says he loves the idea of the Face of Boxing moving up to 175 to challenge WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for his title on May 7th.
Rather than being understandably bitter about being passed over by the Mexican star Canel, Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) is complimentary, which seems like a strange stance.
Some boxing fans believe this sudden outpouring of compliments by Charlo is a campaign to get on Canelo’s good side so that it will increase his chances of getting a fight against him. It’s believed by some that if fighters are critical of Canelo, he chooses not to fight them.
At this point, it doesn’t always work to flatter Canelo endlessly because it still doesn’t result in him giving the fighters the payday matches that they want.
Even Jermall, he’s NEVER gotten a shot at fighting Canelo despite being pro for 14 years.
“I LOVE it. Yeah,” said Jermall Charlo to the DAZN Boxing Show when asked if Canelo deserves kudos for moving up to 175 to challenge WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th.
“I’m definitely not saying it’s a bad thing or he’s ducking. I don’t know why people came up with this ‘duck.’? We’re fighters, bro. We’re not scared of nobody,” said Jermall.
The reason why boxing fans say that Canelo is ducking is that the two-fight deal that he accepted from Matchroom to face Dmitry Bivol on May 7th and 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th.
Those are more accessible options for the Mexican star on paper than the grueling two-fight deal offered by PBC for him to face Jermall on May 7th and David Benavidez on September 17th.
Canelo could beat Jermall, but it wouldn’t be easy. Canelo would be running the gauntlet if he were to face Jermall in May and Benavidez in September. Would Canelo win those fights?
Coming out of the grueling fight against Jermall would likely see a worn down, totally depleted Canelo easy pickings for the young lion Benavidez, who would machine-gun the famous star with shots, likely forcing a humiliating stoppage.
Thus far, Canelo has never been off his feet, seriously hurt, or knocked out during his long 17-year pro career, but against Benavidez, there’s a genuine possibility he’ll get knocked out.
So for Canelo to choose not to take the massive $100 million+ two-fight deal from PBC to face Charlo and Benavidez, it seems painfully apparent that the Mexican star is ducking them in favor of the more straightforward option against Bivol and the aging Golovkin.
To be sure, Bivol is an excellent primary champion, but he’s considered the weakest link among the champions at 175 in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans. The more formidable champions at 175 are deemed to be IBF/WBC champ Artur Beterbiev and WBO belt holder Joe Smith Jr.
As I already said, Canelo taking on 40-year-old Golovkin is viewed as a much easier fight than if he were to face the undefeated 25-year-old lion David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs) in September.
Jermall is seen as a ducker by many boxing fans for choosing not to accept fights against Demetrius Andrade and David Benavidez. Instead of Charlo fighting those talented guys, he’s arguably been padding his record the last six years against these weaker fighters:
- Brandon Adams
- Juan Macias Montiel
- Dennis Hogan
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Matt Korobov
- Hugo Centeno Jr
- Jorge Sebastian Heiland
- Austin Trout
- Julian Williams