Jermall Charlo to defend WBC belt in June

Image: Jermall Charlo to defend WBC belt in June
By Boxing News - 02/12/2023 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Jermall Charlo says he will return to the ring in June to defend his WBC middleweight title. There’s no word yet on who the opponent will be for Charlo’s title sense, but it’ll likely be a low-level fringe contender due to his two years of inactivity.

Charlo said he needed “time away” from boxing, which he took in abundance. The magical question is, why didn’t the WBC strip Jermall of his 160-lb title? Out of fairness to the 15 contenders that have been waiting for their shot at the WBC belt for the last

“I needed time away from the sport. Back in my bag. I’ll be defending my WBC title in June. Sorry for the wait,” said Jermall Charlo on social media.

Why didn’t the WBC strip Jermall Charlo?

It’s unfair to the contenders in the WBC’s top 15 ranking at middleweight for them to have had to wait for two years while the champion Charlo took “time away” from defending his title.

Charlo should have either been stripped outright or given the emeritus tag by the World Boxing Council so that one of the contenders could take over as the champion to keep the belt in play.

With that said, Jermall’s mandatory defense is long since due, but if the WBC isn’t enforcing it, he’ll fight whoever he wants in a voluntary defense against a likely bottom feeder in the WBC’s rankings.

Before Charlo dropped off the grid, he’d been planning to defend his WBC title against Maciej Suleki.

If Jermall chooses to still go ahead with the Sulecki fight, he’ll be met with a storm of criticism from boxing fans because the 33-year-old Polish fighter hasn’t fought since 2021, and he’s undeserving of a title shot.

The 32-year-old Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), who has seen action for two solid years since the last defense of his WBC 160-lb title in June 2021, took to social media to let his fans know that he’ll be returning to the ring this summer to make a defense of his belt.

We last saw Charlo defend his WBC middleweight title on June 19th, 2021, when he defeated Juan Macias Montiel by a tougher-than-expected 12-round unanimous decision at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Jermall had been coming off a nine-month layoff at the time, and he looked rusty beyond belief, nothing like the fighter he’d been in his previous title defense against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in September 2020.

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