At today’s weigh-in, Jermall Charlo came in a whopping 3.4 lbs over the 163-lb catchweight limit at 166.4 lbs, while his opponent, Jose Benavidez Jr., weighed in at 161.2 lbs for their ten round co-feature bout this Saturday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Chris Mannix reports that Jermall & Benavidez Jr. are negotiating a financial deal to allow the fight to proceed for Saturday night.
Jermall will get dumped on by fans for missing weight for the 163-lb catchweight, but in fairness to him, he’s been out of the ring for close to three years, so it’s understandable for him to miss weight.
Charlo’s management had approached Benavidez Jr’s team to move the weight limit to 166 lbs before the fight was made, but Jose Sr refused.
The fight is too important for it not to happen, as helps create interest for the Showtime PPV card, which is headlined by the David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade clash.
Jermall vs. Benavdiez Jr. is a big enough match-up to be the main event on this card, as both of these guys have more charisma and have created more interest from fans.
It would be insane for Benavidez Jr. to make a big production out of this and refuse to fight, as he will never likely get another opportunity to fight a popular world champion-level talent like Jermall again if he chooses to pull out.
Reps for Jermall Charlo and Jose Benavidez Jr. are negotiating financial terms for the Charlo-Benavidez fight to move forward Saturday after Charlo missed the 163-pound catchweight by 3.4 pounds, source told @SInow
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) November 24, 2023
Trainer Ronnie Shields says Jermall has worked hard for his fight with Benavidez Jr. and wants to show fans that he’s back when he battles the angry, snarling fighter in their clash.
Benavidez Jr. could find himself in big trouble if he lets his bad temper control his reason by choosing to go to war with Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) on Saturday, November 25th, at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
If Benavidez Jr. can keep his emotions under control, he’s got a chance of winning, but that’s a big IF because he’s always fought like someone that was a little unhinged. Sometimes, a fighter has to know his limitations, especially if he lacks power like Jose Jr.
Benavidez Jr. is one of those fighters who undermines himself by fighting with anger instead of intelligence, and his brother, David, is the same way, but he’s been able to get away with it due to his massive size advantage over this opposition at 168.
Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) has put in the work to get the ring rust off from his long break from boxing, and he wants to prove to himself that he’s the same fighter he was back in 2021 and earlier.
Underdog Benavidez Jr (28-2-1, 19 KOs) is hoping to pull off an upset and set himself up for bigger paydays, as he’s been left behind by his younger brother, David Benavidez, who is on the cusp of making massive money against Canelo Alvarez if he wins his headliner against Demetrius Andrade on Saturday.
The 31-year-old Jose Benavidez Jr. was beaten last year in July by former world champion Danny Garcia, losing a twelve-round majority decision. That was a close affair through the first half of the contest, but Danny’s power took over in the second half against a tired-looking Benavidez Jr.
Jermall is back to where he left off
“His skills are intact. He’s been working really hard, and he’s back to where he left off,” said trainer Ronnie Shields to Fight Hub TV, saying that his fighter Jermall Charlo is back to the level he’d been fighting before his long two-and-a-half year layoff.
Fans would have more confidence in the 33-year-old Jermall if Shields gave a better description of where he’s at in terms of having his skills intact.
If he said that Jermall was back to the form he had in 2018 when he was beating the likes of Hugo Centeno Jr. and Matt Korobov, they’d feel a little better about his chances for his comeback.
Jermall didn’t look that good against Korobov, and he’ll need to fight better against Benavidez Jr. than he did against him if he wants to win on Saturday.
“We feel really good about how things went in camp, had great sparring, and we worked really hard. He [Jermall] feels really good, and he can’t wait until Saturday night,” said Shields.
There’s much for Jermall to look forward to if he comes out victorious in this return fight. He’s in the running for a fight with Canelo Alvarez next May and has the chance to face the winner of the Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade contest.
If money is what Jermall is interested in, he stands to make a lot if he’s victorious in his warm-up fight against the 31-year-old Benavidez Jr.
“His offense and his defense is on point. He feels really good, and in his heart, he feels he needs to show people that he’s back. That’s what he wants to do,” said Shields about Jermall Charlo.
“He doesn’t care what people think. He just wants to make sure within himself that he shows everybody that Jermall Charlo is back. He’s a good fighter. He’s a fighter that you can’t take lightly,” said Shields about Benavidez Jr.
Shields is wrong if he believes that Jermall doesn’t care what people think of him, as he obviously cares about what the perception fans have about him. He might care too much, and that’s a worry.
How will Jermall react if he struggles to beat Benavidez Jr? Will he get depressed about it and disappear for another two and half years, taking refuge in his huge mansion in Houston, Texas, not to be seen for ages or will he continue on like a soldier?
“If you take the kid lightly, he has enough skills that he can beat you. So, we worked really hard like this here is for a world title. The thing about it is Jermall Charlo has a lot of experience, and we feel we need to use all of that in order to win,” said Shields.
Benavidez Jr. vows to beat Jermall
“He talks a lot of s***. I hope he backs his s*** up when we’re in the ring on Saturday night because I’m going to beat the f*** out of him,” said an agitated, drained-looking Jose Benavidez Jr. to Fight Hub TV, talking about Jermall Charlo.
See what I mean? Benavidez Jr. is one angry individual, and almost anything gets this guy on edge to blow his stack. I mean, that’s fine, but it won’t end well for him if he fights with anger against a talented fighter with the kind of power and pedigree that Jermall brings to the table on Saturday night.
“He didn’t want to look at me. He’d look at me for a little bit and then look somewhere else,” said Benavidez Jr. about his face-off with Jermall.
“He thinks he’s unbeatable, and I’m going to show him how unbeatable. I’m going to beat him. I’m ready to fight. I’m trying to be cool, trying not to start drama over here, and then he says my energy is different. He’s saying I’m pretty much scared of him,” said Benavidez Jr.
Well, considering Benavidez Jr. lost to Danny Garcia and arguably deserved a loss in his controversial ten round draw against Franciso Emanuel Torres in 2021, his chances of beating Jermall are remote to the point where it might need an injury or mental breakdown by Charlo for him to win.
If Jermall is sputtering at even 50%, he blows out the version of Benavidez Jr. that we saw from him in his fights with Danny Garcia and Franciso Torres.
Benavidez Jr. is what his brother David Benavidez would be if you took away his huge size advantage over his opponents. Without David’s huge size, he’s a copy of Benavidez Jr and would be just another average fighter in his weight class.
“Ain’t nobody scared of him. When I walked right by him, he turned away,” said Benavidez Jr about Jermal. “Whose energy is changing? I’m trying to make it a good press conference with no drama. Then he wants to run his mouth and say that dumb s***.
It doesn’t matter if Benavidez Jr. isn’t scared of Jermall. That has nothing to do with anything. The fact that he’s not scared suggests he’s foolhardy and doesn’t realize how badly overmatched he is.
If Benavdiez Jr. had his head on straight, he should be very afraid because he could get knocked by Charlo, and that would mess up his potential to make money in the future.
“He says, ‘You’re not going to do nothing,’ because he’s a b***, and he won’t do nothing. He’s been slapped by all kinds of f**** people. I was close [to attacking Jermall], but I had to think about it. If I do something, then the fight is canceled,” said Benavidez Jr.
