By Craig Daly: Jermall Charlo has confirmed that he’ll be facing Jose Benavidez Jr. next on November 25th on the undercard of the still-to-be-announced fight between David Benavidez & Demetrius Andrade.
The reaction has been mixed from fans of the news of the Jermall vs. Benavidez Jr. fight, as it’s a mismatch in size & talent. Jermall is much bigger, stronger, faster, and more talented than Jose Jr.
It’s disturbing that Charlo is fighting what essentially is a welterweight instead of a fighter from the 160 or 168-lb weight classes. Jermall is supposed to be moving up to 168, so it’s odd that he’s facing Benavidez Jr, who looks like an undersized fighter at 154 and not a good one.
Benavidez Jr., not to be mistaken with his bigger brother David, has fought most of his thirteen-year professional career at welterweight and only moved up to 154 in 2021.
If Jermall is victorious against Jose Jr., he could face Canelo Alvarez next May. Jermall’s twin brother, Jermell, is challenging Canelo for his undisputed 168-lb championship tonight in Las Vegas.
The fight against Canelo, if Jermall gets it, would be viewed as a cash-out type of fight for him, as his career as a major player in the sport is pretty much over after 2 1/2 years of inactivity.
Jermall still holds the WBC middleweight title, and it remains to be seen what the World Boxing Council’s move will be after his tune-up against Benavidez Jr.
It would seem likely that the WBC will finally strip Jermall of his 160-lb title if he refuses to return to the division to defend against his mandatory Carlos Adames.
WBC interim 168-lb champion Benavidez revealed yesterday on Samp&Chance Podcast that Jose Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs) would be fighting Jermall Charlo on his undercard on November 25th Showtime PPV, but now it’s been confirmed by Mall.
Jose Jr. has NOT looked good at junior middleweight, fighting to a controversial 10 round draw against Francisco Emanuel Torres in 2021 in a bout that many had him losing and then getting beaten by Danny Garcia.
“We’ll be back. A good fight. Let’s do it,” said Jermall Charlo to ESNEWS, talking about his comeback bout against former welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr. on November 25th.
“I’m back. I get a chance to relaunch. Let’s do it. It’s going to be the best Charlo you’ve ever seen up to date. The best thing I learned from Roy was how to stay focused and not get distracted by
Roy Jones Jr: “We’re a team, so we just add to the team.”
