By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn says Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermall Charlo is “dead now,” thanks to the dreadful, survival-oriented performance from his twin brother Jermell last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Hearn thinks that boxing fans won’t be interested in seeing middleweight Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) be used as the next opponent for Canelo to fight after the way Jermell phoned in his performance in his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss.
Choosing Jermell was a stupid move on PBC’s part, as this guy had been swerving Tim Tszyu and had struggled in the past with soft opponents like Tony Harrison & Brian Castano.
Canelo avoiding the best at 168
In hindsight, PBC & Canelo should have known that the 33-year-old Jermell wasn’t the fight that the people wanted to see, as this was just another example of a cherry-pick by the Mexican star to help him avoid facing David Benavidez & David Morrell Jr, who have been waiting on his doorstep to rip those belts from him.
Eddie believes that PBC was thinking of using Jermall Charlo as Canelo’s next opponent in a revenge-of-the-brother type of fight, but given how Jermell fought last night, there’s no way that a Canelo-Jermall fight can take place under that climate. Sure, PBC can do anything they want, but it could be a real disaster financially if Canelo fights Jermall.
Hearn says he noted the lack of buzz about the Canelo vs.Jermell fight going into last Saturday’s contest on Showtime PPV and how the T-Mobile Arena was curtained off, meaning that it didn’t sell out.
The entire upper deck of the arena was empty, showing that fans weren’t interested in seeing Canelo fight Jermell Charlo. Obviously, it was not the fight that fans wanted to see, as Jermell hadn’t fought in 17 months, and he’d never been involved in a mega-fight during his career.
Jermell was a four-belt belt champion in a weak division at 154, and he’d been well maneuvered his entire career, never facing anyone really talented. Moreover, when Jermell had the chance to prove himself against Tim Tszyu, he sat out of the ring for over a year with a broken hand, making many fans believe he was malingering to avoid getting beaten.
Jermell just there for the paycheck
“Canelo came into that fight hungrier, mentally in a better place, and physically in a better place,” said Eddie Hearn to the Matchroom Boxing channel, reacting to Canelo Alvarez’s win over a passive Jermell Charlo, who looked like he just came to pick up a check last Saturday night.
“I just don’t know what Charlo was doing. These guys get an opportunity like that, and they’re not rolling the [dice]. It looked like a sparring session. I’m talking about as a fan. I had nothing to do with the fight. Fans are entitled to their opinion, which they always are. So am I.”
It looked like Jermell made up his mind before the Canelo fight that he was just coming to get the bag, and he wasn’t going to risk his soft hide by actually trying to win.
The way that Jermell acted at the press conference, showing gratitude to Canelo for picking him out for the payday, was similar to how some of the Mexican star’s past opponents have acted before going out, seemingly taking it easy on him in fights that resembled sparring sessions.
Jermell acted just like Sergey Kovalev did before his fight with Canelo, so happy about being picked out for the payday.
“I just don’t understand how you could sit at a press conference, say this, say that, ‘My time, legacy, shock the world, I’m a great,’ and not even try. He was out of his depth. If you’re going to get beat, go out on your shield and get chinned,” said Hearn.
“Those kinds of performances can really affect your profile moving forward. Before, Jermell Charlo against Terence Crawford would have been a mega-fight. Is it now? Who is rushing to see Jermell Charlo back? I thought it was a really disappointing fight, but pleased obviously because Saul did it, but I think Saul probably wanted it a bit more than Charlo. He just went into a shell and tried to survive, and it was just weird. Very poor.”
Jermell may not have realized what he was doing by fighting to survive, but he clearly messed up his career by not going all out. He should have thought about that before & during the fight, as didn’t seem to grasp that if he fought like a chicken, he would blow his chances for the second massive payday fight against Terence Crawford.
Canelo vs. Jermall Charlo = dead in the water
“I think because of his [Canelo] deal with PBC, I think they were thinking, Charlo, the brother [Jermall] in the next fight,” said Hearn. “I think that’s dead now. I think they were thinking the first fight [Canelo-Jermell] was going to be a good fight and competitive and maybe a little bit controversial, and the brother steps in, and it’s a great story. But who wants to see Canelo against Charlo, the brother now? No one.”
Of course, Canelo vs. Jermall is dead now. Who would want to see that train wreck after the way Jermell fought? But it was a terrible fight to begin with because why would Canelo want to fight a guy who hasn’t fought in 3 years?
Jermall Charlo will have been out of the ring for three years by next June. Younger fans don’t know who Jermall is unless they’ve seen him in his videos on YouTube, slurring badly and sounding like he’s not all there.
“So, I think Benavidez [vs. Canelo] is a big fight, and then there’s the Crawford talk. I can’t see it,” said Hearn. “I don’t see Canelo coming in under 168 ever, and I’m not sure Crawford comes to 168. Listen, he’s getting on, probably thinking, ‘I want to see these big paychecks coming in.’ So, we’ll see.
“I think Canelo is a superstar. I felt the fight was underwhelming in terms of it’s buzz. You saw areas of the arena curtained off and stuff like that. On paper, it was a mega-fight. Obviously, they didn’t do it during the Mexican Independence Day weekend because the UFC fight was there.
‘I’m biased. I think if I were promoting the fight, it would have been a mega-fight, but I’m the mega-phone guy with a big mouth. They don’t have that.PBC is a fantastic organization. Who’sthe promoter? Who’s out there grinding with the media?” said Hearn.
