By Sean Jones: In a huge surprise, undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez will be facing 154-lb four-belt champ Jermell Charlo in a first-ever fight between two undisputed belt-holders in the history of boxing.
Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs), the twin brother of WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, will be moving up from the 154-lb division to challenge Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) for his undisputed championship at 168.
By choosing the smaller Charlo brother to fight, Canelo increases his chances of winning because this is going to be a huge jump up in weight for the 154-pounder.
The fight isn’t so much about sporting, given the massive size & power advantage that Canelo will hold over Jermell. This fight is more about business to make money.
It’s not fair to the super middleweight David Benavidez and David Morrell Jr, who are waiting for a fight against the undisputed 168-lb champion, but it’s pretty clear that Canelo wants nothing to do with those two killers.
Instead of Jermall making the Canelo life-changing mega-millions, Jermell will soon be swimming in dough on September 30 in this business-level fight.
With the money that Charlo will get from the fight, he could be upgrading the current Houston mansion where he lives into an even bigger one.
Canelo Alvarez vs Jermell Charlo first fight poster… pic.twitter.com/WEjtUqtEeo
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) June 30, 2023
So, Canelo is using his fight with lighter, weaker Jermell Charlo as a temporary foxhole to hide out from them, prolonging the day that he’ll eventually have to come out and face Benavidez & Morrell and deal with whatever may come from those fights.
The boxing public had been led to believe for weeks that Canelo would be facing the bigger, more powerful Charlo brother Jermall in September, but it appears PBC had other plans, choosing to insert Jermell as the opponent for the Mexican star.
It’s unclear if this was Canelo’s idea to use Jermell rather than Jermall, but it’s an excellent one because he’s done more with his career than his twin Jermall, who hasn’t fought in two years since 2021 and has been dealing with personal problems and a back injury.
That said, Jermell brings his own package, having been inactive for the last 14 months, nursing a broken left hand like a classic wartime sickbay commando, dragging out the injury to the nth degree, and seeming to wait out his WBO mandatory Tim Tszyu, hoping he magically disappears.
Jermell was seen inside the ring in May of last year when he beat the tiny 5’7″ WBO 154-lb champion Brian Castano by a tenth round knockout. In their previous fight a year earlier, Castano had fought Jermell to a twelve-round draw that many boxing fans felt should hive been given to the Argentinian fighter.
