Jermell Charlo has been stripped of his WBC junior middleweight title and given the ‘Champion in recess’ designation. This will pave the way for the March 30th clash between Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora and Serhii Bohachuk for the full title.
Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) and Bohachuk (23-1, 23 KOs) will meet in a twelve-round contest on the Tim Tszyu vs. Keith Thurman card on Amazon Prime Video PPV on March 30th in Las Vegas.
Dan Rafael reported the information on Jermell being stripped on X. The belt is now up for grabs for the recently knocked-out Fundora for his upcoming contest against Bohachuk.
Charlo’s Uncertain Future
The World Boxing Council hasn’t revealed why they’ve chosen to strip Jermell, as he fought last September, losing to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez by a twelve-round unanimous decision.
Jermell hasn’t exactly been the busiest of champions lately, sitting on his WBC 154-lb like a goose on her eggs.
It’s been almost two years since Jermell last fought at 154, considering his last fight in the weight class came against Brian Castano in May 2022. That’s a long, long time for a champion to go between title defenses.
That was almost 20 months ago, a lifetime for a contender in the WBC’s top 15 at 154 waiting for a chance to compete for the title.
Does Fundora Deserve Opportunity?
#3 WBC Fundora is coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to Brian Mendoza last April, and he’s hardly deserving of being allowed to fight for the vacant WBC 154-lb belt.
The WBC seems to be skipping over the #1 ranked Charles Conwell for some reason, as he should be the one that is competing for the vacant belt.
Fundora getting a hold of the WBC belt would be a good thing in terms of setting up interesting fights between him and Terence Crawford, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, or Errol Spence Jr. Having one of those guys fight the 6’5 1/2″ Fundora for the WBC 154-lb title would be exciting for the fans.
