By Sean Jones: Former Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Robert Diaz says Jermall Charlo will be the toughest fight of the three for Canelo Alvarez in his recently announced three-fight contract with PBC.
Robert feels that Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs), who hasn’t fought since July 2021, is a tougher fight for Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) than David Benavidez or Demetrius Andrade, two guys that he thinks could wind up facing the Mexican star in his three-fight deal with Premier Boxing Champion.
Diaz says the combination of power, movement & boxing skills that the 33-year-old Jermall brings will be enough to give Canelo difficulty.
What’s surprising is that Robert thinks Benavidez will be less of a problem for Canelo than Jermall because he’ll be standing in front of Alvarez. In contrast, Jermall will move, jab, and box, making things difficult for Canelo.
What Diaz might not be factoring into the equation is the two years out of the ring, injuries, and Jermall has lifestyle in the time away from the sport.
Diaz is likely remembering Jermall from his early years when he was an active fighter, still hungry before he became hugely wealthy.
When a fighter becomes rich and hit their 30s, a lot of things can change with them when they’re not putting in the training time that they did before they made their fortune in the sport.
“The Charlo fight is a great fight. It’s been talked about for many years already,” said Robert Diaz to Secondsout about Canelo Alvarez’s next fight against Jermall Charlo in September.
“I can only assume if Canelo can beat Charlo, the next one would be against [David] Benavidez, and if he can beat Benavidez, if it’s a close fight, maybe a rematch or [Demetrius] Andrade.
Besides Diaz not seeing Jermall as having changed, he’s also seemingly not seen the determination in Canelo, who has looked shot in his last three fights against John Ryder, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Dmitry Bivol. This is not the Canelo from 2020 & 2021.
That version of Canelo is gone forever, and he’s not the slow, plodding single-punch guy who spends a lot of time resting against the ropes in his fights.
“There are so many options in the division. It’s up to Canelo at this point. He’ll call the shots. Charlo,” said Robert when asked who the toughest of the three [Jermall, Benavidez & Andrade] options for Canelo to battle in his three-fight contract with Premier Boxing Champions.
“Charlo will have boxing, Charlo will have punch, Charlo will have movement. I’ve done a lot of Charlo fights. Benavidez will be the most exciting of all of them because it’ll probably be a damn Mexican war, toe-to-toe, mano a mano, and fireworks, but Charlo could be the more difficult fight.
“I see Benavidez, with all due respect, a strong kid, young kid, but right there in front of Canelo, where Charlo will give some movement, use the ring more, use the jab, use the distance rather than go toe to toe,” said Robert about his belief that Jermall is a tougher fight for Canelo than Benavidez.
