By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Ronnie Shields says Jermell Charlo cannot afford to let the rounds be close against Canelo Alvarez for him to get the victory by decision on September 30th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Shields is picking Charlo to win by 12 round split decision if he does what he’s supposed to do, fights hard, and doesn’t allow Canelo to jump out to a fast lead, which is what he normally does.
It’s important to win the early rounds against Canelo because that’s what he’s at best, building a large lead that he sits on.
Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is fighting the popular ‘Face of Boxing,’ Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs), at his favorite venue, and he’s had at least five fights that he could have lost.
Charlo is going to need to step on the gas from the get-go and not sit back and wait until Canelo gets tired in the second half the way that Gennadiy Golovkin did last year in their trilogy.
Canelo will be in top shape
“He wants to keep the crowd going. He wants people to stay behind him, so he’s going to be in the best shape he’s probably ever been in in a long time,” said trainer Ronnie Shields during today’s virtual trainer’s roundtable, talking about Canelo Alvarez for his fight against Jermell Charlo on September 30th.
“He knows he has to do it because Jermell Charlo is coming to fight. Jermell Charlo is one of the few fighters that I’ve seen in a long time that holds his power throughout the fight. You don’t get that in a lot of fighters, but Canelo also is that guy.”
It would be a bad thing for Canelo to get tired in the second half of this fight because Jrmell will exploit it. He won’t just jab and move in the second part of the fight. Jermell will be landing hard punches to the head and body of Caneelo, looking to take him out the way he did his last opponent Brian Castano.
“He holds his power really well to the end,” said Shields. “Jermell is a hard trainer, always has worked hard, and nothing has changed with him, as far as I can see. He’s going to be his best, and he’s going to continue to be his best.
“He’s a naturally big guy, simple as that, who’s strong. He does struggle to make weight, but he does it the right way, and when you do it the right way, you don’t struggle to do it, so you know he’s going to be a natural 168-pounder that night,” said Shield about Jermell.
“I suspect he would probably come in about 64-65 [at the weigh-in], but on the night of the fight, I expect him to be about 175. He’s going to be in great shape because he always is. He takes pride in training, and I know he’s going to be in great shape, but what he has to do is he has to make everyone not close.
