By Dan Ambrose: Jermall Charlo is reportedly in negotiations for his long-awaited comeback against Jose Benavidez Jr. for the proposed David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade card in November.
If Jermall Charlo wants to stay in line for a mega-payday against Canelo Alvarez next year, he’s got to look good beating Benavidez Jr. because this is a guy that he should have no problems with.
Jermall will take a lot of criticism by using the 31-year-old Jose Benavidez Jr. as his tune-up opponent, as he fights at 154, and he’s struggled in the ring since being shot in the leg in 2016 in Phoenix.
Given Jermall’s 2+ years of inactivity, it’s too risky to put him in with a live dog, especially with him potentially being next for Canelo Alvarez in May 2024.
There’s a lot of money for Jermall to make fighting Canelo in a ‘revenge of the brother’ type of fight if his twin, Jermell, loses to Alvarez this Saturday night in Las Vegas.
In Benavidez Jr’s last four fights since 2018, his record is a lowly 1-2-1, and arguably should be 1-3, as the ten round draw that he had against Francisco Emanuel Torres was controversial, with many boxing fans believing he deserved a clear loss.
Benavidez Jr’s ONLY win since 2018 was against journeyman Sladan Janjanin (37-16, 26 KOs) last August.
The idea is, according to David Benavidez, who told Samp&Chance, is to have Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs) defeat Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs), who will have been out of action for 29 months by November, and that would take him out of the equation for Canelo Alvarez’s next opponent after Saturday’s fight with Jermell.
Benavidez Jr. isn’t much of a threat to beating Jermall unless he’s completely ring-rusty and shot since his last fight against Juan Macias Montiel in 2021.
Jermall looked awful in that fight, struggling to beat Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs), a fighter that Jaime Munguia knocked out in two rounds and was recently stopped in three rounds by Carlos Adames last October.
What’s surprising to a lot of boxing fans is the WBC not stripping Jermall of his WBC middleweight title, as he’s been able to stay out of the ring for over two years without losing his belt or given the ‘Champion in Recess’ tag that the sanctioning gives to their injured belt-holders.
Jose Jr. lost to Danny Garcia by a 12 round majority decision last year in July at 154. It was a competitive fight, but only because Danny doesn’t look like the same guy that he once was when he held a title at 140. He’s too small to fight at 154.
