By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten junior middleweight champions Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano will meet in their rescheduled rematch on May 14th on Showtime at a still to be determined location.
For the Charlo-Castano 2 rematch to proceed, a step aside had to be given to Charlo’s IBF mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev.
The fight had to be postponed recently from the original March 19th date due to WBO 154-lb champion Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) suffering a right biceps tear while sparring with Terrell Gausha.
IBF/WBA/WBC 154-lb champion Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) and Castano fought to an unpopular 12 round draw last July in San Antonio, Texas. The scoring was all over the place, making little sense in the eyes of some boxing fans.
Scores for Charlo v. Castano:
- 114-114
- 117-111 – Jermell
- 114-113 – Castano
The Charlo vs. Castano II contest can’t be staged at the initially scheduled venue at the Crypto.com Arena. That venue will be used for either an NBA or NHL game on the May 14th date.
What downside of the Charlo-Castano 2 fight postponement is that the original co-feature bout between WBO 154lb mandatory Tim Tszyu and Terrell Gausha won’t be on the rescheduled Charlo-Castano 2 card on May 14th.
That fight has moved to headline their event this month on March 26th on Showtime in Minneapolis.
The World Boxing Organization had wanted WBO 154-lb champion Castano to defend against his #1 challenger Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs) next after the postponement of his fight with Jermell Charlo.
However, Premier Boxing Champions smoothed things over with the WBO and Tszyu, 27, by moving his fight with Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) on Showtime.
Losing out on the Tszyu vs. Gausha fight is a significant blow to the Charlo vs. Castano 2 card because that contest would have attracted a lot of fans.
Castano, 32, will start sparring in two weeks, and he should be ready to go on May 14th as long as there are no setbacks with his bicep injury.
“The Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano undisputed junior middleweight title rematch is now set for May 14 on Showtime; sources tell ESPN. The WBO ruled that the fight can proceed but must take place no later than May 14 after Castano suffered a biceps tear that forced a postponement,” said Mike Coppinger.
“Castano suffered the slight tear of his right biceps after he was accidentally elbowed by Terrell Gausha in sparring last month, per sources. PBC put together the impromptu card with Tim Tszyu and Gausha to accommodate Tszyu and the WBO, who were calling for the mandatory.”
Castano will be fighting for the second time since capturing his WBO junior middleweight title in February 2021 with a 12 round decision win over Patrick Teixeira.
Jermell will likely be the favorite in the rematch with Castano on May 14th because he’s got the better hand speed and power. The last time they fought, Jermell hurt Castano on several occasions.
