Jermall Charlo vs. Maciej Sulecki on June 18th on Showtime in Houston, Texas

By Boxing News - 03/15/2022 - Comments

By Allan Fox: On Tuesday, it was announced that Jermall Charlo would be defending his WBC middleweight title against #6 challenger Maciej Sulecki on June 18th in the main event on Showtime Championship Boxing in Houston, Texas.

Fans have been ridiculing Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) over the choice of opponent that his management at PBC has stuck him in against in matching him against one of Demetrius Andrade’s former victims in 32-year-old Sulecki (30-2, 11 KOs).

When fans laugh at Jermall Charlo, it reflects poorly on the network for agreeing to televise these dreadful albatross-level fights. After 14 years in the professional ranks, you’d like to have seen some progression by Jermall in terms of opposition.

There’s a complete and utter failure to launch in Charlo’s case, and it’s painfully apparent that he’s milking his WBC 160-lb title to hold onto it for as long as humanely possible before someone talented like Zhanibek Alimkhanuly rips it from him, sending him back into the contender ranks from whence he came.

Jermall is a classic example of a champion milking his title to make easy money.

Sulecki would be a good option if Charlo were starting his professional career in 2022 or coming off of a loss and was in badly need of a confidence booster to help him mentally recover from the loss.

But come on, Charlo is a 14-year pro, and he should be fighting quality opposition instead of leftovers from the guys he’s choosing not to face in Demetrius Andrade.

For Charlo to still be fighting sublevel opposition like Sulecki, it’s deeply troubling.

Jermall is getting up there in age at 31 to be still facing poor opposition like Sulecki, and, surprisingly, Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza is willing to put these types of mismatches on his network.

Jermall talks a lot about wanting fights against Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin, but he fails to face the kind of opposition that shows that he deserves to fight those guys.

Charlo’s opposition since moving to 160:

Juan Macias Montiel
Sergiy Derevyanchenko
Dennis Hogan
Brandon Adams
Matt Korobov
Hugo Centeno Jr
Jorge Sebastian Heiland

Boxing fans wanted to see Charlo take on Jaime Munguia, Demetrius Andrade,  Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, Chris Eubank Jr., or even a rematch with Juan Macias Montiel.

Instead, they’re going to watch Jermall being spoonfed another soft job by Premier Boxing Champions, who have been scheduling him like he’s fragile and might break if put in with a talented contender or champion.

Sulecki is just another example of PBC matching Jermall Charlo against strictly weak opposition instead of putting him in against fighters that have a chance of beating him.

In addition to Poland’s Sulecki losing to Demetrius by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision, he lost to Daniel Jacobs by a 12 round unanimous decision in April 2018 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Image: Jermall Charlo vs. Maciej Sulecki on June 18th on Showtime in Houston, Texas

In March 2019, Sulecki beat Gabe Rosado by a controversial 10 round in Philadelphia.

In that fight, Rosado started slowly in the first half of the battle but came on strong to drop Sulecki twice in the ninth round. Sulecki barely escaped the war from getting knocked out.

In the end, many boxing fans felt that Rosado had been robbed of a victory by the judges. It was close enough for Rosado to deserve a win, but the judges went with Sulecki.

Sulecki’s best opponents:

Gabe Rosado – UD 10 win [*controversial]
Demetrius Andrade – UD 12 loss
Daniel Jacobs – UD 12 loss
Jack Culcay – UD 10 win
Hugo Centeno Jr – TKO 10

YouTube video

Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano II on May 14th

Also announced today, IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) will be fighting WBO champion Brian Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) on May 14th on Showtime Championship Boxing in Los Angeles. This will be for the undisputed championship at 154.