By: Hans Themistode
Jermall Charlo is certainly enjoying the limelight. The 31-year-old will have the hometown crowd firmly behind him when he takes on Juan Macias Montiel at the Toyota Center, in Houston Texas tomorrow night.
While Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) claims to be fully focused on the task at hand, the WBC middleweight belt holder has an eye on some of the bigger names in the division. When their showdown was first announced, many were disappointed. The Houston product knows good and well that Montiel wasn’t his first choice. Originally, team Charlo attempted to lure current IBF belt holder Gennadiy Golovkin into the ring. Those plans, however, fell by the wayside.
Whether it’s Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) or anyone else for that matter, Charlo is hungry to face them all.
“I can hold my ground with Golovkin,” said Charlo to a group of reporters. “I’m ready to fight a big name but I can’t get the big names in there with me.”
Currently, Golovkin is angling for a unification showdown against WBA titlist, Ryota Murata, for the end of the year. In between, the Kazakhstan puncher is rumored to be interested in a matchup against middleweight contender, Jaime Munguia.
Regardless of what he ultimately does, Charlo isn’t necessarily chasing him down. At the age of 39, while still a terrific fighter, Golovkin appears to have lost a step. And at this point, Charlo believes he is simply the better overall fighter. To further back his claim, Charlo urges everyone to simply look at the tape.
In October of 2019, Golovkin struggled mightily with top contender, Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Ultimately, Golovkin would walk away from their contest with a razor-close unanimous decision win but many believed it was undeserving. When Charlo faced Derevyanchenko one year later, he manhandled his man over the course of 12 rounds.
In addition to comparing performances, Charlo has reservations about facing someone who is on the verge of turning 40 years old.
“I feel like I can edge GGG because look at what I did to Derevyanchenko. Golovkin had a hard time with him. I just don’t want to pick on an older man and make it look like I’m going for a weaker play but he does have a belt. If it’s time to unify before he runs out of gas then I’m here to fight him.”
