By Adam Baskin: PBC announced today that Jermall Charlo takes on Jose Benavidez Jr. in a middleweight non-title contest scheduled for ten rounds in the chief support fight on Saturday, November 25th at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Negas.
Charlo-Benavidez will fight on the David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade card on Showtime pay-per-view. This is one of three outstanding undercard fights for this event, and the fans will really get their money’s worth.
This is Jose Benavidez Jr’s big chance to try and pull off the biggest win of his career against Jermall Charlo, who at one time was considered a future star until a combination of injuries, personal problems, and inactivity derailed his career.
Benavidez Jr. gave Terence Crawford a tough fight in October 2018 before getting stopped in the twelfth round. For Crawford, that was a lot harder fight than his recent match-up against Errol Spence Jr.
Undercard
- Jermall Charlo vs. Jose Benavidez Jr.
- Subriel Matias vs. Shohjahon Ergashev
- Hector Luis Garcis vs. Lamont Roach
There will be a lot of curious fans who will want to see how WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) looks against Jose Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs) in their ten round fight. Jose Jr., 31, is the older brother of David Benavidez, but he lacks his size, speed, power, and combination punching ability.
It’s an odd pairing to have career welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr going up against the much bigger & stronger Jermall, but it’s somehow fitting with the way that fighters are no longer respecting weight divisions, moving up & down.
If Jermall is rusty enough, he could potentially lose, as Benavidez Jr. gave former two-division world champion Danny Garcia all he could handle last year in July, losing a narrow twelve round majority decision in a fight that was razor close.
Jermall will need to bring his A-game if he wants to win this fight because if he performs like he did in his previous fight against Juan Macias Montiel 28 months ago, he loses this fight, and his career is in the in the trash heap.
He can forget about a fight with Canelo Alvarez, not that he has any hopes of that match-up taking place at this point, but a defeat would still mess up his future prospects for lucrative fights against David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade.
Subriel Matias vs. Shohjahon Ergashev
In a fight that could steal the show on the card, IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KOs) defends against unbeaten Shohjahon Ergashev (23-0, 20 KOs). Both of these guys are big punchers and will be coming to slug it out from start to finish.
Matias is the most exciting champion in the 140-lb division, and he’s someone who brings pure drama to his fights. While he may not have the best defensive skills, his power is excellent, and he’s always looking to put a hurt on his opponents. Matias recently defeated Jeremias Ponce by a fifth round knockout last May.
The southpaw Ergashev, 31, has been inactive since last year in August when he knocked out Angel Martinez Hernandez in the fifth round. Egashev’s most notable win of his eight year professional career was against Luis Alberto Veron.
“Jermall Charlo will look to show why he’s the top middleweight in the world against the highly-motivated José Benavídez Jr., while champions Subriel Matías and Héctor Luis Garcia will enter the ring seeking to hold off fast-rising mandatory challengers Shohjahon Ergashev and Lamont Roach,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions.
WBA super featherweight champion Hector Luis Garcia (16-1, 10 KOs) will be making his first defense of his title that he won last year in August against Roger Gutierrez.
Hector was sidetracked from defending the belt due to getting an opportunity to challenge for the WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title against champion Gervonta Davis last January, but he was stopped in the ninth round.
