By Robert Segal: Jermell Charlo has finally been added to Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list at number 10 after becoming the undisputed junior middleweight champion last Saturday night with a knockout win over Brian Castano.
Being elevated to Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list is an excellent birthday present for Jermell, who turned 32-years-old on Thursday.
With that said, for Charlo to keep climbing up the pound-for-pound listing, he will need to be more active. Fighting on an annual once per year basis, ala Gary Russell Jr, isn’t going to do it for Jermell if he wants to crack the top five in the pound-for-pound list.
It’s unclear what the problem is for Charlo, but he’s got to be a little more ambitious than he’s been if he wants to achieve big things before he ages out.
Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list
1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Terence Crawford
3. Naoya Inoue
4. Errol Spence
5. Juan Estrada
6. Canelo Alvarez
7. Vasyl Lomachenko
8. Dmitry Bivol
9. Josh Taylor
10. Jermell Charlo
Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) probably would be ranked higher than the #10 spot if not for his failure to dominate WBO 154-lb champion Castano (17-1-2, 12 KOs) the whole way through the fight.
Jermell struggled through the first six rounds and couldn’t take control until the 32-year-old Castano faded at the midpoint in the contest. It wasn’t so much what Charlo was doing that caused Castano to gas.
The Argentinian had the look of a fighter that hasn’t worked hard enough on his cardio during camp, and it came back to bite him on the backside after the sixth round.
Jermell’s next potential opponents
1. Tim Tszyu
2. Sebastian Fundora
If Jermell chooses to swerve his WBO mandatory challenger Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs), he’ll be stripped of his title. Whether Charlo decides to avoid the Australian Tszyu will depend on if he believes he can win the fight or not.
You have to assume that if Charlo bypasses the fight with Tszyu, he’s concluded in his mind that he can’t beat him and will take the easier route against another aging, light-hitting contender in the Brian Castanoesque mold.
The 6’6″ southpaw Sebastian Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs) won’t be a more manageable option for Jermell to deal with, as this guy is a real handful and has a devastating left uppercut.
Jermell will have significant problems with the 24-year-old Fundora due to the engine and high work rate that he possesses. Not only is Fundora capable of throwing nonstop shots without tiring, but he can take a punch and keep throwing his bombs.
Fundora wears his opponents out with his work rate and the vicious uppercuts he throws.
Jermell wouldn’t be able to count on Fundora gassing out after six rounds the way Castano did, and he’d have a lot more to worry about in terms of the punches thrown back at him.
Fundora might rearrange Jermell’s face as he did with Erickson Lubin, and that might not make the Charlo twin happy seeing his features morphed by the nonstop shots from ‘The Towering Inferno.’
