By Dan Ambrose: Errol Spence Jr believes Jermell Charlo won’t be too small to beat Canelo Alvarez at 168 after moving up two weight classes from 154 to challenge the Mexican star’s undisputed championship on September 30th.
The 5’10” Spence says he’s taller than the 5’8″ Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs), and that’s not a surprise because Alvarez started his career at 140 in 2005 and didn’t move up to 154 until 2010, moved to 160 in 2017 and 168 in 2018.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) says he’d be open to a fight with Canelo if everything works out for him in his fight with Terence Crawford on July 29th.
6’0″ Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) has more than enough size to compete with Canelo, as long he doesn’t bulk up too much and wind up sluggish.
What’s more worrisome than the size aspect of this fight is the 16 months that the 33-year-old Jermell has been out of the ring. That’s a lot of time for a fighter to be inactive, especially one that has seemingly lived well in his big mansion, sitting by a pool, almost like a retired person, than someone still toiling for a living.
If Jermell hasn’t been spending a lot of time in the gym, it’s going to be difficult for him to reverse 16 months of inactivity. His stamina could take a big hit, putting him at the mercy of Canelo’s big power shots.
“Nah because when Canelo started, he started at 147 pounds, and if you look at pictures with Jermell and Canelo, I’m taller than Canelo,” said Errol Spence to Fighthype. “Jermell has got some size too. I feel he’ll mesh with the weight [168] really good.
“He can’t just bulk up and get too big and then be sluggish. I think if he just walks around and waits, he’ll be just fine. I think he’ll be just fine. He’s big for their weight class,” said Spence.
Is Jermell Charlo making the mistake of bulking up too much? In a recent photo of Jermell posing with chains hanging on him, you could see a visible paunch, which suggests that he’s power-eating, trying to bulk up the wrong way.
“He can fight, and I think he’ll be more energetic at that higher weight,” said Spence. “He can’t just sit around in front of Canelo and try and pick him off with shots and try to put fear in his heart. But I think Jermell is a big guy, so I think he’ll be just fine.”
Jermell never stands in front of his opponents, so I doubt he’ll start with Canelo. The only way Jermell stands in front of Canelo is if h gasses out due to his inactivity and weight gain. If that happen, he could get knocked out.
“It sounds good, but he’s got a three-fight deal. So, I don’t know who it could be in that deal,” said Spence. “It could be Benavidez, Jermall, and whoever else,” said Spence when asked if he thinks there’s a chance that he could be fighting Canelo in one of his three fights.
Most boxing fans believe that Spence has already been written in as Canelo’s second or third fight of his three-fight, $100 million deal with PBC. The only thing that could spoil those plans is if Spence loses to Crawford once or twice.
Can Spence complete with Canelo? That’s a big yes because the Mexican star’s cardio is something awful, and Errol could outwork him.
“So him and Al [Haymon] and whoever he did the deal with. They probably already got the names picked out,” said Spence. “It’s already pre-written. I have no idea. I give people speculation, but it’s nothing but speculation.
“Yeah, I might,” said Spence on whether he would consider moving up to 168 to fight Canelo. “It’s something that I would definitely think about, but I’m focussed on the task at hand [WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford], and I want to get a belt at 154 too.”
Of course, Spence would be willing to move up to fight Canelo at 168. It’s better than toiling away for much less money at 154 against the mostly no-names.
“It could happen; I don’t see why not. But it’s something I’m definitely not worried about if it happens. If it happens, it’s something it happens. If it don’t, I ain’t chasing nobody or trying to make that fight happen,” said Spence about Canelo.
