By Craig Daly: WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman says his organization will continue to support inactive WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, and they won’t be stripping him despite it being 2+ years since his last title defense.
Sulaiman didn’t say how much longer he’ll allow Jermall to hold onto his WBC title without defending it, but it’s going to be alarming if he still hasn’t made a title defense by next year, as that would be three years that he’s not made a defended it.
The titles are supposed to be defended on a yearly basis, so it’s unclear why Sulaiman is letting Jermall play by a different set of rules.
“The title has had movement. Carlos Adames is the interim champion. We have explained Jermall’s situation plenty of times and will continue to support him,” said WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman on Twitter in reacting to a comment from a poster saying that Jermall Charlo should be stripped of his World Boxing Council middleweight title for being inactive for 2+ years since June 2021.
Should Jermall be stripped?
Fans, fighters & promoters want Jermall to be stripped of his WBC middleweight title because of his inactive status.
Suliaman allowing Jermall to hold onto his WBC 160-lb belt without defending it makes it look like he’s giving him preferential treatment that he wouldn’t give to another inactive champion that wasn’t as well connected.
They think it’s unfair to the many contenders in the WBC’s 160-lb top 15 not to be able to challenge for the title because Jermall is holding onto the belt year after year without defending it.
Sulaiman points out that the WBC 160-lb title has had “movement” recently, with interim champion Carlos Adames successfully defending the secondary strap with a ninth round knockout victory over Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams last month on June 24th.
Considering that Adames only holds the WBC interim middleweight title, it’s difficult to understand why Sulaiman feels the true 160-lb belt has movement. The truth is, the WBC title is being sat on by Jermall without it being defended since June 2021 when he beat Juan Macias Montiel.
Jermall had recently been in the pipeline to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship on September 30th, but surprisingly, the 33-year-old Charlo turned down the opportunity because he reportedly felt he wouldn’t have enough time to prepare. The fight is three months away, yet that wasn’t enough time for Jermall to get ready.
If you’re a middleweight contender, the last place you want to be ranked is in the WBC’s top 15 because your career will be stalled out waiting for an opportunity to challenge for the belt held by Jermall.