By Sean Jones: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis believes Jermell Charlo’s true weight is in the 180s, and he doesn’t see it being a problem for him to go up to 168 from 154 to take on Canelo Alvarez in September.
Ennis thinks Jermell (35-1-1, 18 KOs) will be stronger fighting at 168 because he won’t have to cut as much weight as he usually does in melting down from the 180s to compete at 154.
Boxing fans are making a big deal about Jermell moving up two weight classes from 154 to challenge Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) for his undisputed super middleweight championship at 168 on September 30 on Showtime PPV.
The obvious question is, why hasn’t Jermell been fighting at 168 or 175 all these years instead of putting his body through the wringer to drain down to 154? It’s obvious.
By Jermell fighting at 154, he has a tremendous size advantage over his opposition, allowing him to win world titles that he probably wouldn’t be capable of winning if he fought in a weight class that was more suited to his frame at 168 or 175.
Try to picture the outcome of Jermell being tossed into the ring with super middleweights David Morrell Jr or David Benavidez. It would be like feeding time for an apex predator like a highly dangerous Spinosaurus from the late Cretaceous period. Jermell would be food for them.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Jermell is stronger and more effective at 168 because this is where he should be fighting in terms of his frame and for health reasons.
A stronger, more robust Jermell Charlo will be a nightmare for Canelo, and he could regret choosing him rather than selecting another chip-shot-level opponent.
“I actually thought he was fighting the big Charlo. I didn’t think he was fighting the little Charlo, but that’s a good fight,” said Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to Fight Hub TV when asked about his thoughts on Canelo Alvarez fighting Jermell Charlo.
“I still can’t even picture. I didn’t know they signed for it. I still can’t even picture the fight. Yeah, I think he can go up to 168. He probably walks around at 180 or something like that.
Boots Ennis sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. Again, why on earth has Jermell been putting his body through pure torture to fight at 154 when it would be far easier to compete at 168 or 175?
Instead of Jermell taking off 26 to 30 lbs to get down to 154 from his natural weight of 180+, he would only need to drop roughly 12 to compete at 168 or 5 lbs to fight at 175.
Of course, that assumes that Jermell would have the talent to compete with killers like Morrell, Benavidez, Dmitry Bivol & Artur Beterbiev.
“He fights at 154, so he probably walks around at 180,” said Boots when asked if Jermell has a big enough frame to fight at 168. “He might even be stronger at 168. He doesn’t have to cut as much weight.”
What will a stronger Jermell Charlo do to Canelo? This writer can picture what Jermell did to Erickson Lubin, Jeison Rosario, and Tony Harrison with him knocking out the Mexican star.
“Basically, he’s putting on a little bit more muscle and things like that. I don’t know. It’s going to be a great fight,” said Ennis. “I can’t wait to see it. I’m excited.
“It could be an advantage, and it could be a disadvantage,” said Ennis on whether Jermell will benefit by being able to eat the most wholesome foods during training camp for the Canelo fight because he doesn’t have to worry about draining down to 154.
“We don’t know how well he can take a shot at that weight [168]. But then again, he might be stronger and might be able to take a shot well or even better than taking a shot at 154. I don’t know. There are pros and cons to it. We’ll just have to wait and see,” said Ennis about Charlo.