By Sean Jones: Promoter Bob Arum predicts Canelo Alvarez will make easy work of “little” Jermell Charlo and knock him out by the seventh round on September 30th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is looking to cement his legacy by jumping up two weight classes to challenge Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) for his undisputed super middleweight championship on Showtime PPV. Charlo already holds the undisputed title at 154, but he’s trying to become a two-division champ.
If Jermell wins, it will set up a massive money rematch with Canelo and possibly a fight against Terence Crawford at 168. Crawford says he wants to move up to face the Canelo vs. Charlo winner.
“Canelo will beat him easy. Charlo is nothing. Little Charlo is nothing,” said promoter Bob Arum to Little Giant Boxing. “Canelo will probably knock him out in the sixth or seventh round.
“This fight has been in the making for five years,” said Canelo Alvarez to TMZ Sport about his September 30th contest against Jermell Charlo.
“This fight has been talked about for a long time, but this is the perfect moment,” Alvarez continued about his risky match against the ambitious go-getter Jermell, who is daring to be great by jumping up two weight divisions from 154 to 168 in hopes to unseat the undisputed champion.
Whoever emerges victorious from the Canelo-Charrlo fight could face ‘Bud’ Crawford if they’re unwilling to face the predatory sharks in the 168-lb division, David Benavidez, David Morrell Jr., or Demetrius. Fighting Crawford would be a business-level fight rather than a sporting one because he fights three divisions below.
“Jermell Charlo is great and a talented fighter, and he’s undisputed too in his weight class [junior middleweight]. So I’m happy to be in the big fights,” said Canelo.
“When you’re a good fighter, it’s not that much of a challenge,” said Canelo about Jermell moving up two divisions to face him at 168 for his four belts. “When a fighter is big like Jermell, I think he will handle it well [moving up in weight].”
It will be more challenging for Jermell than Canelo lets on because he’s never fought anyone at 168, and he had a dickens of a time just beating tiny 5’7″ Brian Castano and Tony Harrison at 154.
Moving up two weight classes won’t be a piece of cake for Jermell because he’s never been hit by someone with Canelo’s power before, and his shots might not affect the Mexican star.
“It’s a win-win for Charlo, but I don’t think Canelo wins anything by beating Charlo,” said Oscar De La Hoya. It’s not a win-win for Canelo. That’s it.”
