Tag Archives: charlo

Posted on 06/24/2019

By: Sean Crose

After losing his WBC super welterweight title to Tony Harrison by unanimous decision last December, Jermell Charlo was eager to regain both his title and his winning ways. A rematch was scheduled, but Harrison had to pull out due to an injury. Charlo indicated he didn’t buy Harrison’s reason for stepping away from the bout, but the Houston native ended up impressing in his return fight regardless. For the 31-1 Charlo faced the 28-3 Jorge Cota on Sunday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas before PBC cameras in a battle that was aired live on Fox. Needless to say, Charlo made a distinct point by destroying Cota in the third round.

Although widely expected to win the fight, Charlo ended matters in disturbing fashion by laying Cota out on his back with a picture perfect straight right hand. Cota, who had previously been down only moments earlier, could be seen by FOX cameras lying under the ropes with his eyes wide open, completely out of commission. Referee Jay Nady didn’t even bother with a count, waving the fight off as soon as Cota hit the mat for the second time. There was criticism of Nady after for the bout for letting Cota resume fighting immediately after the first knockdown.

In truth, Cota did well for himself in the early portion of the very quick match. His awkward style kept Charlo from steamrolling him right at the bell and the judges even awarded Cota the opening round on the cards. Still, the man ended up being no match for Charlo, who merely had to figure out Cota’s style before finishing the southpaw in devastating fashion. Cota, who had last fought in April, suffered his second loss in a row. WBC champ Harrison watched the proceedings in person.

Earlier on in the evening, Guillermo Rigondeaux, who was once ranked high on the pound for pound list, returned after a long absence from the ring to stop Julio Ceja in the eighth round. The super bantamweight, who was last seen quitting on his stool against Vasyl Lomachenko back in 2017 (in what was the fighter’s only loss), had long ago earned himself a reputation as a “boring” fighter. Rigondeaux threw that reputation out the window on Sunday, engaging in a fan friendly war, and earning his 19th win the hard way. The game Ceja entered the ring with a record of 32-3. The highly skilled Rigondeaux ended up handing the Mexican fighter his second loss in a row.

Posted on 06/21/2019

By: William Holmes

On Sunday night the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada will be the host site for Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions Fight card to be televised live on Fox.

The main event of the evening will between Jermell Charlo and Jorge Cota in the junior middleweight division. The co-main event of the evening will be between former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and Julio Ceja in a WBC Junior Featherweight Eliminator.

The undercard features fighters such as Joey Spencer, Alberto Mercado, Jesus Ramos, Leduan Barthelemy, and Ryan Karl.

The following is a preview of the co-main event and main event of the evening.

Guillermo Rigondeaux (18-1) vs. Julio Ceja (32-3); Junior Featherweight Division

Guillermo Rigondeaux was once considered a pound for pound great, but a loss to Vasily Lomachenko in 2017 affected his status on the pound for pound list.

At thirty eight years old he’s clearly past his prime, and is twelve years older than his opponent. However, Rigondeaux will have about a four and a half inch reach advantage but will be giving up an inch in height.

Rigondeaux has twelve stoppage wins on his resume while Ceja has twenty eight stoppage victories. Rigondeaux only loss was by stoppage to Vasily Lomachenko, Ceja has been stopped twice in his career.

Ceja is the younger brother of Luis Ceja but has no notable amateur experience. Rigondeaux is a two time Olympic Gold Medalist and is considered by many to be an all time amateur great.

Rigondeaux bounced back from his defeat to Lomachenko by defeating Giovanni Delgado quite easily. Other notable opponents include James Dickens, Drian Francisco, Joseph Agbeko, Nonito Doniare, Roberto Marroquin, and Teon Kennedy.

Ceja notable wins include Anselmo Moreno and Hugo Ruiz. His losses were to Jamie McDonnell, Hugo Ruiz, and a loss in his last fight to a 17-4 Franklin Manzanilla.

Even though Rigondeaux is getting older, he’s still a technical wizard, and should have no problems getting past Ceja.

Jermell Charlo (31-1) vs. Jorge Cota (28-3); Junior Middleweight Division

Jermell Charlo’s career hit an unexpected speed bump when he lost his last bout to Tony Harrison in a close upset.

However, many felt he did enough to win that fight and he’s still a top rated contender.

On Sunday he’ll be facing Jorge Cota, a contender that also lost his last bout, but it was against a relative unknown in Jeison Rosario.

Charlo is two years younger than his opponent, but both will be about the same height with about the same reach. Cota actually appears to have an edge in power as he has stopped twenty five of his opponents while Charlo has only stopped fiftee, but Cota’s resume is littered with low level opposition.

Charlo has beaten the likes of Austin Trout, Erickson Lubin, Charles Hatley, John Jackson, Vanes Martirosyan, Gabriel Rosado, and Harry Joe Yorgey. He has been fairy active and fought twice in 2018 and twice in 2017.

Cota’s notable wins include Yudel Jhonson and Euri Gonzalez. His other two losses were to Erickson Lubin and Marco Antonio Rubio. Cota fought once in 2019, once in 2018, and three times in 2017.

Charlo also has a clear edge in amateur experience as he was a bronze medalist in the Junior Olympics.

Cota has an impressive knockout ratio, but he has to defeat any top rated contenders and lost to fighters that many would expect Charlo to beat easily.

Charlo is expected to breeze through this fight.

Posted on 12/23/2018

By: Hans Themistode

Number one contender and current WBC interim titleist Jermall Charlo (28-0, 21 KOs) scored a unanimous decision victory tonight over Mat Korobov (28-2, 14 KOs) tonight. Two judges scored the bout 116-112 while one judge had it fairly wide 119-108. In the what was perceived to be an easy nights work for Jermall turned out to be anything but that.

Korobov, who came in tonight as a late replace for Willie Monroe Jr gave Jermall everything he could handle. The size difference between the two was noticeable but the skill was comparable. The match started with Korobov landing shots on Jermall that has seldom been done by anyone. Often times Jermall would shake his head and acknowledge Korobov for the shots he was landing. Defensively Korobov was on his game as well.

Charlo had a hard time finding the target tonight. When he did however Korobov to the surprise of many was able to take the powerful blows and not seem visibly distraught. In the 12th however Jermall seemed moments away from ending the contest. A series of hard shots from the interim WBC champion landed on the chin of Korobov which placed him on unsteady legs. Jermall followed those shots with a flurry of hard punches which all landed on the chin of Korobov. To the challengers credit however he managed to weather the storm but could not get the decision.

Although Jermall won he did not look as impressive as he had in the past. Sure Korobov is a tough and skilled competitor but something seemed off and understandably so.

In the co main event Jermall’s twin brother and now former WBC Jr Middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (31-1, 15 KOs) suffered his first defeat at the hands of Tony Harrison (28-2, 21 KOs).

The bout between the two saw long stretches of both men having plenty of success. Harrison seemed to box effectively and used the ring to his advantage. For Jermell he hurt Harrison several times throughout the fight and seemed confident that he had done enough to earn a decision. However a win for Jermell was not in store for him tonight.

When speaking after the fight about what his next move will be Jermell made it known exactly what he plans on doing next.

“There’s a rematch clause in the contract. We’ll be fighting within four months.” Said Jermell.

Both Charlo twins had less than memorable performances tonight. Jermall did not seem as sharp as he normally is and Jermell suffered the first defeat of his career in what is quite possibly the biggest upset of the year.

Both twins have plenty of work to do. They are both still terrific fighters but will have to rebound quickly from subpar performances.

Posted on 12/23/2018

By: William Holmes

Premier Boxing Champions made their contract debut with the Fox Network tonight live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The main event featured a last minute replacement as former title contender Willie Monroe Jr. was flagged for possible performance enhancers and Matt Korobov agreed to take his place. Many felt Korobov was a tougher matchup for Jermall Charlo than Monroe, and the fight appeared to confirm that thought.

The opening bout of the night was between Dominic Breazeale (20-1) and Carlos Negron (20-2) in the heavyweight division. Breazeale looked a bit sluggish early on and may have given up some of the earlier rounds based on Negron’s activity alone. Negron landed some questionable punches at the end of the third round that appeared to land after the bell had rung.

Breazeale’s accuracy began to improve in the middle rounds and he made it clear that he was the more powerful puncher of the two. A thunderous right hand by Breazeale ended the fight in the ninth round as Negron crashed to the ring and had his head hanging over the middle rope.

Dominic Breazeale could be seen challenging Deontay Wilder, who sat ringside, after the stoppage. Breazeale won by a TKO at 1:37 of the ninth round.

The next bout of the night was between Tony Harrison (27-2) and Jermell Charlo (31-0) for Charlo’s WBC Super Welterweight Title.

Charlo appeared to be more tentative than usual, and wasn’t throwing combinations like he normally does. He was the more aggressive fighter and pressed the pace, but a lot of his punches were missing and he was open to some of Harrison’s counters.

Charlo did land the harder punches throughout the night, and he appeared to have hurt Harrison on more than one occasion. But Harrison’s jab was active and accurate and he kept most of the rounds close and hard to score.

Harrison did appear to nearly knock Charlo down in the fifth round with a right hand, but Charlo was able to answer him later with a scorching right hand that had Harrison stunned.

Charlo’s best round of the night may have been the last two rounds, as he landed a beautiful uppercut in the eleventh and appeared to have hurt Harrison with a left hook in the twelfth, but the judges didn’t feel it was enough for Charlo to win the bout.

In a bit of an upset, Tony Harrison won the scorecards with scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112.

The main event of the evening was between Jermall Charlo (27-0) and Matt Korobov (28-1) for the WBC Interim Middleweight Title.

Korobov was a cagey veteran who’s lone blemish on his record was a shocking stoppage upset to Andy Lee, in a fight that he was winning on the scorecards at the time. Despite not having a meaningful fight in over eighteen months, he showed no signs of ring rust early on and had Charlo bothered with accurate counters while showing good upper body movement to avoid Charlo’s power shots.

Charlo’s noticeable reach advantage worked to his favor in the middle rounds as Charlo became more active with his jab and kept it in the face of Korobov. But the later third of the fight Korobov’s right eye was nearly swollen shut.

The first four rounds could have been arguably scores for Korobov, but Charlo had a strong fifth round that was punctuated with a short right hand and he continued that momentum into the sixth and seventh rounds.

The ninth round featured both fighters landing hard combinations, but Korobov was starting to tire and Charlo was still able to throw hard shots. Charlo had Korobov covering up in the tenth round and the eleventh round was very competitive.

Charlo appeared to have a slight lead going into the final round, but his best round of the night was the last round as he had Korobov hurt with several hard shots and had the referee looking at Korobov closely with an eye towards a possible stoppage.

There was no controversy with this decision, though it was a close and entertaining fight. Charlo retained his title with scores of 116-112, 119-108, and 116-112.

Posted on 12/21/2018

By: Hans Themistode

Loud, brash, cocky and arrogant are words that can be used to describe the Charlo twins Jermall (27-0, 21 KOs) and Jermell (31-0, 15 KOs). Explosive, confident, impressive and revered can be used as well. Whichever word you choose will lead you to the same conclusion.

They are must watch television.

Both will be returning to the big screen this Saturday night as they put their undefeated records on the line at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn New York live on the first PBC on Fox card.

Jermall, who is the number one contender for the WBC Middleweight title and also possesses the interim title was originally scheduled to take on two time title challenger Willie Monroe Jr (23-3, 6 KOs). However with less than one week remaining until the night of the fight Monroe was busted by VADA for an adverse finding in his urine sample. He was subsequently removed from the card and replaced with Matt Korobov (28-1, 14 KOs).

Although this is considered a short notice bout, it isn’t your typical one. Korobov was already in training for a matchup against Juan De Angel on this very undercard. The bout was scheduled to take place at 168 pounds but he had no trouble in trimming down to the Middleweight limit of 160 pounds as he weighed in at 159.8 this afternoon.

On paper Korobov will provide Jermall with his toughest opponent to date. Matt was a decorated amateur having defeated the likes of Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Oleksandr Usyk to amass a record of 300-12. In the pros he has been impressive as well. He handed current IBF Super Middleweight champion Jose Uzcategui his first defeat in his biggest win to date. Korobov’s lone defeat came in 2014 at the hands of now retired fighter Andy Lee. Matt was ahead on the scorecards and in complete control of the fight before a right hand by Lee followed by a flurry of punches put a halt to the contest. He has gone on to win four bouts in a row since then. In short this will in many ways present a much tougher task for Jermall then his originally scheduled opponent.

The interim champion has looked great thus far but many would venture to say that he is still unproven and not quite ready for the elite of the Middleweight division. A win over Korobov won’t silence his doubters but a dominant performance just might.

Speaking of dominance, that is the exact word that can be used when describing Jermell’s title run at Jr Middleweight. The younger by one minute Charlo has knocked out four of his past five opponents. He will be looking to add another highlight reel knockout to his name when he takes on Tony Harrison (27-2, 21 KOs) in the co main event.

Jermell has his eyes set on a future showdown with unified champion Jarrett Hurd. It would be a matchup of arguably the two best Jr Middleweights. As much as Jermell wants that fight to happen he would be foolish to overlook Tony Harrison.

Boxing ability, punching power, ring IQ. Tony has it all.

His biggest problem has always seemed to be his gas tank. He was stopped by both Jarrett Hurd and Willie Nelson in the ninth round of both contest while leading on the scorecards. Tony’s stamina failed him on both occasions. Coming in to this contest however, Tony has told anyone that will listen that he has solved his issues.

If he truly has found a way to keep a consistent pace for a full 12 rounds then he will pose plenty of issues for the champion.

Many have dismissed both Matt Korobov and Tony Harrison as easy fights for the Charlo’s. Both bouts will be anything but that. If the twins hope to continue their dominant run they will both have to overcome two great challenges ahead of them come Saturday night.

Posted on 12/20/2018

By: Sean Crose

This Saturday night, the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, will host the final major fight card of 2018. The fights begin airing live at 8 PM eastern standard time, on Fox, which has recently made a deal with Al Haymon’s Premiere Boxing Champions, the promoter behind the card. There will essentially be two main events, each featuring one of the Charlo twins, 27-0 middleweight Jermall, and 31-0 super welterweight Jermell. The Houston, Texas natives have a strong chance of landing notable fights at the pinnacle their respective divisions, provided they get past their respective competition this coming weekend.

Jermell will be facing the 27-2 Tony Harrison for the WBC super welterweight title that he won in 2016 by knocking out John Jackson and has successfully defended three times since. Harrison, who hails from Detroit, will be coming off a split decision win over Ishe Smith last May. This will be Harrison’s second attempt at a world title. Back in 2017, he was knocked out by Jarret Hurd while competing for the IBF super middleweight title in Alabama. Since that time, the fighter has gone on to win three straight. The match with Charlo will be a scheduled twelve round affair.

Meanwhile, Jermell’s brother, Jermall, will be facing off against the 28-1 Matvey Korobov for the interim WBC middleweight title strap. Stepping into the ring at Barclay’s for his third fight in a row, Jermall recently bested Hugo Centeno Jr by knockout last April. Korobov, on the other hand, is coming off a March unanimous decision victory over Jonathan Batista in Miami. This will be Korobov’s second bout this year after taking all of 2017 off. Korobov’s one loss was to Ireland’s Andy Lee, who knocked the Russian out in December of that year in Las Vegas. Korobov will be facing quite the challenge in Jermall, who has stopped his last three opponents within the distance.

Jermall was originally set to face Willie Monroe Jr on Saturday, but the Monroe, who is best known for getting stopped by Gennady Golovkin in 2015, showed traces of a prohibited substance in a VADA drug test and the fight was subsequently called off. Fortunately for all parties involved, Korobov was able to step in and fill the void left by Monroe. Should he somehow emerge victorious in the scheduled 12 round affair with Jermall, Korobov will have most likely pulled off the upset of the year.

Posted on 12/10/2018

By Jake Donovan

From brand inception through present day, the brass at Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) have looked past mounting criticism of its product with its eyes on the bigger picture.

Its parternship with Fox Sports has already begun to show why patience remains a virtue.

The rebranding of the PBC on Fox primetime boxing series—which was formally announced during a glossy press conference on November 13—is due to launch with a December 22 tripleheader live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event will kick off a lucrative multi-year agreement between PBC and Fox Sports, with live shows due to run monthly in primetime on Fox and FS1.

The first show under the new agreement is headlined by the Charlo twins—Jermall and Jermell—in separate title bouts, marking the first time either Charlo serves in the main event of a primetime boxing telecast after years of frequently playing in supporting capacity on cable giant Showtime. Jermall (27-0, 21KOs) defends his interim middleweight title versus Willie Monore, Jr. (23-3, 6KOs) in the main event, while Jermell (31-0, 15KOs) defends his 154-pound strap versus Tony Harrison (27-2, 21KOs) in the co-feature.

Both bouts served as the first offerings of Fox’s ‘PBC Countdown’ series, airing this past Saturday immediately following the network’s live coverage of Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup series. ‘PBC Countdown: Jermall Charlo vs. Willie Monroe Jr.’ drew a favorable 1.0 overnight rating (roughly 1.2 million viewers; final figures to come Tuesday morning) for its 11:00pm timeslot, doing well on an active sports night to hold the majority of the audience from MLS Cup, which at 1.35 million viewers drew its best televised audience since 1998.

The 11:30pm-slotted ‘PBC Countdown: Jermell Charlo vs. Tony Harrison’ special pulled a 0.6 overnight rating.

“The PBC’s entire mission has been to find a partnership that will allow boxing to reach a mass audience and we believe we’ve found that partner in FOX,” Tim Smith, vice president of communication for PBC told BoxingInsider.com. “Having an opportunity to reach a potential audience of 120 million viewers on a regular monthly basis with events and other shows is a real game changer for the sport.”

The launching of ‘PBC Countdown’ comes on the heels of network promos for the December 22 telecast having frequently run during every edition of NFL (National Football League) on Fox since the initial November 13 network presser.

The latest batch came in Sunday’s Game of the Week offering, where the Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles in an overtime thriller which produced a 16.0 overnight rating, the best for any NFL afternoon game this season. Promos for the Charlos’ bouts were also part of network coverage which drew more than 50 million viewers for pro and college football a week ago, as well as back-to-back Thursday Night Football telecasts on Fox—both featuring the Cowboys in games watched by more than 53 million combined viewers.

Network promos will continue to run throughout this Thursday’s edition of NFL on Fox, pitting the 11-2 Kansas City Chiefs versus the 10-3 Los Angeles Chargers in a game with major playoff implications at stake. The Charlos will garner more exclusive coverage this Saturday afternoon, starring in the network’s debut of ‘PBC Face-To-Face’ series hosted by award-winning sports writer Mike Coppinger.

Similar coverage will come with every edition of PBC on Fox. The next primetime edition will air January 26—also live from Brooklyn, New York—followed by shows on February 14 and March 9 leading into the debut of “PBC on Fox Pay-Per-View”, headlined by Errol Spence Jr. in a welterweight title defense versus Mikey Garcia, who moves up from lightweight in a battle of unbeaten pound-for-pound entrants.

Spence and Garcia have both benefitted from NFL exposure, each making separate appearances at Cowboys Stadium for November 22 and November 29 games which aired live on Fox.

The November 22 Thanksgiving edition drew 30.8 million viewers, while the November 29 showing—in which the Cowboys upset the NFL-best New Orleans Saints—drew more than 21 million viewers, the best-ever showing for any NFL Thursday Night Football installment (excluding Thanksgiving games) since the primetime series debuted five years ago.

“Our boxers have made in game appearances on NFL broadcasts that have been viewed by tens of millions of people,” Smith points out. “[T]he Charlos, who fight on December 22 have been the beneficiaries of the first Countdown show and teases of their upcoming fights during each NFL game on FOX since the fight was announced.

“That’s the kind of complete commitment that will foster real growth in the sport. We’re excited about the 2019 season of PBC on FOX.”

Posted on 11/12/2018

By: William Holmes

The middleweight division has a rich history of classic fights. Hagler-Hearns, Hagler-Leonard, Hearns-Leonard, Duran-Leonard, Hopkins-Trinidad, Robinson-Fuller, Graziano-Zale, Robinson-LaMotta, the list goes on and on.

The middleweight division is one of the deepest and most intriguing divisions in boxing today. Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez just put on two great, grueling, competitive fights. Daniel Jacobs has been on a tear and was giving Golovkin all that he could handle in their close fight. Billy Joe Saunders is undefeated and dominated hard hitting contender David Lemieux. Jermall Charlo is a young undefeated fighter with dynamite in both hands. Rob Brant just put himself in the middleweight map with a surprisingly easy win over former Olympian Ryota Murata.

There are many match-ups that could be made that would get fight fans excited. Unfortunately, promotional and network alliances will make some of those fights difficult to make, but there’s one fight that has the potential to be a pay per view blockbuster.

Photo Credit: Hogan Photos

That would be a fight between undefeated middleweight champion Jermall Charlo and undefeated middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

They both fight in New York City in December and will get undoubtedly get a lot of east coast press. Canelo will be making his super middleweight debut when he takes on Rocky Fielding at Madison Square Garden on December 15th. Jermall Charlo will defend his title at the Barclays Center the next weekend against former title challenger Willie Monroe Jr.

But an eventual fight between Charlo and Alvarez will be difficult to make.

Canelo’s fight will be taking place on streaming pioneer DAZN and Charlo’s bout will be televised on Fox. Canelo is aligned with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions while Charlo is aligned with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.

These two promotional companies don’t have the best history of working together.

But in boxing, money has a way of bringing sworn enemies together to make the fight that fans want. And there’s money that could be made here.

Even better, for fight fans, it should be a highly entertaining fight.

Canelo and Charlo are known for the concussive punching power. Canelo has thirty four stoppages on his resume with a knockout ratio of 64%. Charlo has twenty one stoppages on his resume, but has had less fights and a higher knockout ratio. He has stopped an eye opening 78% of his opponents.

They’ve both faced a defeated a good number of high level opponents. Canelo has defeated the likes of Gennady Golovkin, Liam Smith, Julio Cesar Chavez, Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo, Austin Trout, and Shane Mosley.

His lone loss was to Floyd Mayweather Jr., when Mayweather was still in the midst of his athletic prime and Canelo was not even two months past his 23rd birthday.

While Charlo has not faced the number of high quality opponents that Canelo has, he has never experienced anything other than a victory inside the ring as a professional. His string of no losses/no draws include victories over boxers such as Hugo Centeno Jr., Julian Williams, Austin Trout, Wilky Campfort, and Cornelius Bundrage.

It’s a fight that can sell. Both fighters are young power punchers with strong personalities. Canelo has a very loyal Mexican fan base and name recognition. The Charlo brothers are two entertaining personalities with a brash bravado that reminds you of Floyd Mayweather.

The story line to sell the fight is evident.

But this is a fight that would have to be on DAZN. Canelo signed an exclusive agreement with DAZN and will no longer be doing pay per view fights. Charlo might be able to put on a pay per view show or two, and even though the middleweight division is stacked with talent, he doesn’t have a dancing partner available to put on a highly successful pay per view.

There’s nobody outside of Canelo that can draw in a pay per view bout for Charlo. Gennady Golovkin’s biggest pay per view outside of Canelo was Daniel Jacobs, and that’s estimated at only 170,000 buys.

His drawing power also probably took a hit with his recent loss to Canelo Alvarez. The other known boxers in the middleweight division are either signed to DAZN, or don’t have the drawing power to make a pay per view venture worthwhile.

Canelo vs. Charlo is the most entertaining fight the middleweight division can offer. The question is, will Charlo take the risk to fight him on DAZN? Or will he continue to fight lesser known fighters for less profitable options on Fox and Showtime?

Time will tell.

Posted on 10/23/2018

By Jake Donovan

The biggest complaint among the cult following for twin brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo is that they’ve yet to headline a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) telecast in primetime.

While that problem will be resolved for at least one of the two in their next ring appearance, the next batch of complaints will come in their respective opponents.

Photo Credit: Jermell Charlo Twitter Account

The unbeaten twins will defend their separate alphabet titles on a December 22 edition of PBC on Fox, live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Jermall Charlo will make the first defense of his interim middleweight strap as he faces Willie Monroe Jr. Meanwhile, Jermell Charlo attempts the fourth defense of his 154-pound belt versus Tony Harrison.

A coin toss will determine which Charlo gets to headline the primetime doubleheader, which will kick off the rebranded model of PBC’s renewed three-year deal with Fox.

The show had promised to make a big splash given the renewed deal, but—beyond the prospect of seeing both Charlos on the same card (and one in the main event)—neither bout really moves the needle.

Even though he only holds an interim version of the World Boxing Council (WBC) title, Jermall (27-0, 21KOs) remains in a favorable position given all of the recent movement in the middleweight division. The 28-year old from Houston, Texas moved up from super welterweight (154 lbs.), where he’d held a title for nearly two years prior to vacating ahead of his July ’17 stoppage win over a hobbled Jorge Heiland.

The win—which took place at Barclays Center, where he will now make his third straight appearance—was supposed to guarantee Charlo a crack at the winner between Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in their Sept. ’17 clash. However, the bout ended in a controversial draw, leading to what was supposed to be an immediate rematch.

Charlo wound up fighting for and winning an interim title in a stoppage victory over Hugo Centeno this past April. By that point, the Alvarez-Golovkin rematch had already been postponed until September, with Alvarez taking a decision win. At its annual convention in early October, the WBC granted Alvarez an optional fight while ordering Charlo-Golovkin in a bout to determine the next mandatory challenger to the full title.

Obviously that fight won’t materialize next, if ever at all.

Golovkin—beltless for the first time since 2010—is currently fielding offers both in the ring and the platform which will broadcast his next fight. It’s obvious a December showdown with Charlo was a non-starter on his end, leaving PBC brass to keep its client busy.

A title defense versus Monroe Jr. provides that very opportunity, though is a bit of a letdown given how much attention has been afforded the division just in recent weeks.

Monroe Jr. (28-3, 6KOs) figured to surface in a significant event under PBC, which has housed his last two bouts. The veteran contender from upstate New York—who will turn 32 just ahead of fight night—is coming off of a 10-round decision over Javier Maciel in August, his second straight win following a 12-round loss to then-unbeaten titlist Billy Joe Saunders last September.

The bout—which was painfully tough to watch—marked his second failed attempt at a middleweight crown. He parlayed his ESPN2 Boxcino Middleweight Tournament crowning into a lucrative May ’15 crack at Gennady Golovkin, suffering three knockdowns en route to a 6th round stoppage defeat live on HBO.

Surrounding the title fights are respectable wins over Brandon Adams (in the aforementioned Boxcino finals), Brian Vera and Gabriel Rosado.

Jermell Charlo (31-0, 15KOs) has emerged as a cult favorite over the course of his title run. The 28-year old had to rally from way behind in stopping John Jackson to win his portion of the 154-pound crown in May ’16, the win going in the history books as he and Jermall became the first twins in boxing history to simultaneously hold major titles in the same weight division.

Whereas Jermall has moved up the scale, Jermell has punched his way to the top of the division. Highlight-reel knockout wins over Charles Hatley and previously unbeaten Erickson Lubin both made their way to several 2017 year-end awards lists, the latter marking his 5th consecutive stoppage win.

A close-but-clear points win over former titlist Austin Trout this past June ended that streak, but put Jermell alongside Jarret Hurd—whom outpointed Erislandy Lara in their unification bout on that same card—as the best 154-pound boxers in the world.

PBC brass along with the fine folks at Showtime—the industry-leading premium cable outlet who has invested heavily in the 154-pound division—have not at all been shy about the prospect of Charlo and Hurd colliding in a bout to determine the super welterweight king. However, both sides have steadily acknowledged that such a fight wasn’t likely until 2019 as Hurd is rebounding from rotator cuff surgery.

Much like his twin, Jermell was forced to realize that seeking bigger game would have to give way—for now—to remaining active.

Enter Harrison (27-2, 21KOs), once high among the most lauded prospects under the PBC umbrella. The Detroit-bred middleweight has since fallen to middle-of-the-pack contender, suffering knockout losses to Willie Nelson and Hurd on the undercard of high-profile events.

The defeat to Nelson—in which he was winning every round before falling apart late—came in the chief support to PBC’s first primetime card on ESPN in July ’15. A modest three-fight win streak followed, leading to his first career title fight.

A Feb. ’17 clash with Hurd aired live on Fox in primetime, as the co-feature to Deontay Wilder’s heavyweight title-defending stoppage win over Gerald Washington. Harrison was competitive until he wasn’t, with Hurd coming on strong late in scoring a 9th round stoppage to claim the vacant title.

Harrison has rebounded with a pair of wins including narrowly outpointing Ishe Smith this past May on Bounce TV. His forthcoming showdown with Charlo will mark his second crack at a major title.

Meanwhile, one of the Charlos will get the honor of headlining their first PBC primetime event. Both have topped the bill in lesser advertised cards, Jermell on a Halloween ’15 edition of PBC on NBC Sports and Jermall in his first defense of his 154-pound title on a Nov. ’15 afternoon installment of PBC on NBC.

They’ve since fought a combined eight times, all of which have aired live on Showtime-televised undercards. Included among the lot was the last time they appeared on the same show—in May ’16, a card that was topped by Lara’s 12-round win over Vanes Martirosyan.

Now, their only competition for top billing on the marquee is each other. Sadly, the forthcoming coin-toss to determine such status is perhaps more enticing to boxing fans than either matchup on the announced show.

Posted on 10/03/2018

By: Michael Kane

Any hopes that Gennady Golovkin had of an immediate rematch, to complete the trilogy, with Canelo Alvarez have been dashed.

The WBC announced today that GGG is to face Jermall Charlo (27-0 21 KO) with the winner to face Canelo.

Canelo will be allowed a voluntary defense this year.

Charlo, 28, the former IBF light middleweight champion has been waiting for his chance to take on one of the two big guns in the division and finally gets an opportunity.

Charlo won the interim title last time out when he defeated the then undefeated Hugo Centeno Jr in two rounds.

Golovkin who felt hard done by the results in the two matches with Canelo may decide this is the best route back for the trilogy opportunity, with Canelo expected to fight again later this year against an as yet unnamed opponent.

With the news that HBO has left the boxing business, GGG and other HBO tied up fighters can now make deals with different TV companies which could make deals easier to make, especially with Charlo signed to Showtime.

Posted on 06/08/2018

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares will rematch from a 2015 fight that featured more than 2000 total punches thrown. This rematch will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be televised live on Showtime. Santa Cruz and Mares will be fighting for Santa Cruz’s WBA “Super” Featherweight Title.

The co-main event of the night will be an intriguing bout between the rising Jermell Charlo and Austin Trout, who is best known for defeating Miguel Cotto. This bout will be for Charlo’s WBC Junior Middleweight Title.

Photo Credit: Premier Boxing Champions Twitter Account

The undercard is packed with fights such as Karlos Balderas and Pedo Lopez in the junior lightweight division, Arnold Alejandro and Elliot Brown in the Featherweight Division, Jose Balderas and Luis Montellano in the Junior Featherweight division, and Ivan Redkach and Brian Jones in the welterweight division.

The following is a preview of both planned televised bouts.

Jermell Charlo (30-0) vs. Austin Trout (31-4); WBC Junior Middleweight Title

The opening bout will be for the WBC Junior Middleweight Title between Jermell Charlo and Austin Trout.

Trout had previously faced Jermell’s twin brother, Jermall Charlo, and came up short. Charlo is four years younger than Trout and will have about an inch and a half height advantage and a one inch reach advantage.

They both have decent power, Charlo has stopped fifteen of his opponents while Trout has stopped seventeen. Trout has only fought once in 2016, 2017, and 2018 while Charlo fought twice in 2017, once in 2016. Trout has struggled recently and went 2-2 the past four fights, Charlo has been on a tear and has never tasted defeated and is currently riding a four fight win streak.

Both boxers had a pretty good amateur career. Charlo was a Junior Olympics Bronze Medalist and Trout was a US Amateur Gold Medalist.

Charlo has defeated the likes of Erickson Lubin, Charles Hatley, John Jackson, Vanes Martirosyan, and Gabriel Rosado. Trout has defeated the likes of Joey Hernandez, Daniel Dawson, Miguel Cotto, and Delvin Rodriguez. He has losses to Canelo Alvarez, Erislandy Lara, Jermall Charlo, and Jarrett Hurd.

Unfortunately for Trout the Charlo brothers are very close and will likely be talking about how to defeat Austin Trout. Trout’s biggest victory of his career was against Miguel Cotto and a win against Charlo might be considered an even bigger upset, but his lack of activity the past three years plus his recent struggles against high level competition makes those prospects unlikely.

Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1) vs. Abner Mares (31-2-1); WBA “Super” Featherweight Title

The first bout between Santa Cruz and Mares was an action packed bout with an abnormally high number of punches. Santa Cruz won a close decision when they first fought and Mares has been itching for a rematch ever since.

Santa Cruz is three years younger than Mares. He also has a three inch height and a three inch reach advantage. He will be the obvious bigger man inside the ring.

Both boxers are known for their ability to throw a high volume of punches and swarm their opponents. But Santa Cruz has been the more active boxer. He fought twice in 2017 and twice in 2016, while Mares only fought once in 2016 and once in 2017.

Both boxers come from a successful amateur career. Santa Cruz won a gold medal in the Junior Olympics and Mares competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Santa Cruz has a slight edge in power. He has nineteen stoppage victories while Mares only has fifteen.

Mares has two losses, but was stopped in one of those losses, a mild upset to Jhonny Gonzalez.

Santa Cruz has defeated the likes of Chris Avalos, Carl Frampton, Kiko Martinez, Abner Mares, Cesar Seda, Eric Morel, and Cristian Mijares. His lone loss was to Carl Frampton, and it was a loss he later avenged.

Mares has defeated the likes of Andres Gutierrez, Jesus Cuellar, Jonathan Oquendo, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Anselmo Moreno, Eric Morel, Joseph Agbeko, and Vic Darchinyan. His losses were to Jhonny Gonzalez and Leo Santa Cruz, and he hopes to avenge his loss to Santa Cruz on Saturday.

Unfortuntely for Mares he’s still fighting a bigger man who’s in the middle of his athletic prime, while Mares is hitting the age that boxers tend to show signs of slipping.

It seems likely that Santa Cruz will get a more convincing victory on Saturday night.

Posted on 04/23/2018

By: Ken Hissner

After Saturday’s quick knockouts on Showtime two of the winners shot their mouths off after destroying lesser opponents and asking for something they may regret in the future. In other words “Watch what you ask for!”

Houston’s Jermall Charlo, 27-0 (21) won the interim WBC World Middleweight title knocking out Hugo Centeno, Jr., 26-2 (14), of Oxnard, CA, in the second round. Charlo only had one fight in 2017 against a much overrated Jorge Sebastian Heiland, 29-5-2 (16), from Argentina in the 4th round.

The former IBF World Super Welterweight Champion called out Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, 37-0-1 (33), of KAZ and L.A., CA. who on May 5th will be defending his title or title’s against the WBC No. 1 Super Middleweight against Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan, 36-3-1 (21), of Armenia and Glendale, CA., who has lost to twin brother Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo, 30-0 (15), back in March of 2015 via a 10 round decision. Martirosyan has never been stopped in his 40 bout career. He was the USA 2004 Olympian at welterweight.

The other winner Saturday night was Gervonta “Tank” Davis, 20-0 (19), of Baltimore, MD, but having moved out to Las Vegas, NV. He stopped Jesus Marcelo Andres “El Jinete Cuellar, 28-3 (21), former WBA World Featherweight Champion in the 3rd round to win the WBA Super World Super Featherweight title.

Interviewer Jim Gray brought up the name WBO Super World Super Featherweight Champion Vasyl “Hi-Tech” Lomachenko, 10-1 (8), of the Ukraine now living in Oxnard, CA. He will be fighting WBA Lightweight Champion Jorge “El Nino de Oro Golden Boy” Linares, 44-3 (27), of VZ now living in Tokyo, Japan May 12 at Madison Square Garden.

This writer considers Lomachenko P4P No. 1 and Golovkin P4P No. 2. Both are former Olympians with Lomachenko winning Gold Medals in 2008 and 2012. Golovkin won a Silver Medal in 2004 after defeating Andre Dirrell losing in the final to Russian Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov who never turned professional.
My thoughts are Charlo meeting the Danny “Miracle Man” Jacobs, 33-2 (29), of Brooklyn, NY, and Maciej “Striczu” Sulecki, 26-0 (10), of Warsaw, Poland, winner on April 28th at the Barclay Center. Sulecki stopped Centeno in June of 2016 in the 10th round.

I’m sure that though under suspension for six months Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 49-1-2 (34), of Guadalajara, MEX, and Golovkin will meet in sometime on or around September pending on the length of the suspension. That controversial draw that Golovkin got ripped off on should be changed to a NC or ND.

This writer felt that Golovkin could meet WBO World Champion Billy Joe Saunders, 26-0 (12), of Hatfield Hertfordshire, UK, with all the titles on the line. He will meet Martin Murray, 36-4-1 (17), on June 23rd in the UK, whose only stoppage loss was to Golovkin in June of 2015 in Monte Carlo in the 11th round.

If Charlo and Davis get “WHAT THEY ASKED FOR” I’m sure it will not before 2019.

Posted on 04/21/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Mayweather Promotions, TGB Promotians and DiBella Entertainment on USA Showtime, at the Barclay Center, Brooklyn, NY, put on a triple header Saturday night.

In the Main Event welterweights with former WBA World Super Lightweight champion Welterweight Adrien “The Problem” Broner, 33-3-1 (24), of Cinn., OH, ended in a majority draw with former WBO World Welterweight champion Jesse “Pride of Las Vegas” Vargas, 28-2-1 (10), of Las Vegas, NV, over 12 rounds.

Photo Credit: Showtime Boxing Twitter Account

In the first round after exchanging jabs Broner landed a left hook to the chin of Vargas. After over a minute of the round Broner landed a combination to the head of Vargas. It wasn’t until under a minute left in the round that Vargas landed a stiff jab to the chin of Broner. In the second round Vargas landed his first right of the fight to the chin of Broner. Broner with hands high is only using a jab in the round up to this point. Vargas landed half a dozen punches without return. Broner just shook his head as if to say “nothing on it!” Vargas landed a 3-punch combination in taking a good round.

In the third round Vargas used a jab to the mid-section of Broner. He followed upt with a good combination before Broner landed a good combination in return. Both exchanged body shots. The pace really picked up in the round. Both were throwing punches at the bell. In the fourth round Broner counters with solid rights to the chin of Vargas. Both boxers landed well. Vargas landed a pair of rights to the head and Broner back with a right uppercut to the chin. Broner landed a good combination with Vargas countering with a right to the head at the bell.

In the fifth round Vargas continues to out work Broner until Broner rocked Vargas with a right to the chin. There was a mouse under the left eye of Vargas. Vargas landed half a dozen of unanswered punches as Broner came back just prior to the bell with a right of his own. In the sixth round Broner came out firing unlike previous rounds. Vargas landed an array of punches in what is a very good fight. Broner landed a 3-punch combination. Vargas landed a straight right to the chin of Broner who shook his head. With half a minute left Broner landed a low blow giving Vargas a half minute rest from referee Charlie Fitch.

In the seventh round Vargas comes out with a solid jab. Vargas landed a right to the chin of Broner who countered with a right of his own to the chin. Broner warned for using his elbow by referee Fitch. Broner ended the right with a right uppercut to the chin of Vargas. In the eighth round both boxers landed left hooks to the chin at same time. Broner landed Bof one another. Vargas continued landing good body shots. Vargas landed a right at the bell but was warned by referee Fitch for a late hit.

In the ninth round Broner came out dominating Vargas through the first minute. Vargas came back landing a big right to the head of Broner. Broner landed a good left hook with Vargas came back with a solid right to the chin of Broner. With half a minute left Broner turned up the heat getting the fans cheering with Broner rocking Vargas who almost looked like he was out on his feet at the bell. In the tenth round Broner went on the attack pushing Vargas back. Broner with hands to his side was trying to bait Vargas in. With half a minute left in the round Vargas landed a solid right to the head of Broner. Just prior to the bell Broner ended it landing a flurry of punches.

In the eleventh round Vargas is throwing rights to the head of Broner who is the aggressor. Broner landed a good right to the head of Vargas whose left eye is almost closed. It was a good close round. In the twelfth and final round Broner landed a good chopping right to the head of Vargas who is continuing backing up. Vargas started raising his hands at the halfway mark showboating. Vargas with less than half a minute to go landed a 3-punch combination to head and body of Broner. Broner’s new trainer Kevin Cunningham urged Broner throughout to do more. While Vargas trainer Mike “Body Snatcher” McCallum urged body work. It was an excellent fight.

Judge Lederman had it 115-113 Broner. Morgan and Marlinski had it 114-114. This writer had it 117-111 for Vargas.

Former World Super Featherweight champion southpaw Champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis, 20-0 (19), of Baltimore, MD, regained a world title when he stopped former WBA World Featherweight champion southpaw Jesus Marcelo Andres “El Jinete” Cuellar, 28-3 (21), of Bueno Aires, ARG, at 2:45 of round 3 for the WBA Super World Super Featherweight title, scheduled for 12 rounds.

In the first round Cuellar used a good jab while Davis was a little slower using his jab and a nice right uppercut to the body which may have hurt Cuellar with about a minute left in the round. Half a minute to go and Davis landed a right uppercut to the chin of Cuellar. Davis landed a good combination to the head of Cuellar right before the bell. In the second round Davis landed a lead left into the mid-section of Cuellar dropping him for the 8 count from referee Benjy Esteves, Jr. Cuellar was up and going after Davis for the remainder of the round until Davis landed a straight left to the chin of Cuellar.

In the third round after about a minute Cuellar landed a right hook to the left eye of Davis he shook his head from being hurt. Less than a minute to go in the round and Davis dropped Cuellar with his body landing three punches, body, head, body dropping him for a second time. Upon rising Cuellar had Davis all over him landing half a dozen punches with the final one a left hook to the chin dropping him for a third time in the fight causing referee Esteves, Jr. to wisely wave it off.

“I want to thank God,” said Davis. Upon being asked who he would like to fight next he answered “I would like to unify!”

Former IBF World Super Welterweight champion Jermall Charlo, 27-0 (22), of Houston, TX, knocked out Hugo “The Boss” Centeno, 26-2 (14), of Oxnard, CA, at 0:55 of the second round for interim WBC World Middleweight title, 12 rounds.

In the first round Charlo came forward with a lot of feinting while Centeno was using his jab. It was into the final minute of the feeling out round before Charlo landed a double jab. The referee Steve Willis was slow breaking up the numerous clinches. In the second round Charlo landed a chopping right followed by another right and a left hook that had Centeno hurt, clash of heads and a left having Centeno going down and another right putting him on his back. Referee Willis didn’t have to count but did.

“I first want to thank God for who I wouldn’t be here without. Also, thank my manager, Al Haymon. I want Triple GGG, lets get it on,” said Charlo.

Posted on 04/19/2018

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) will be putting on a stacked card on Showtime live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Three fights are planned to be televised with a main event featuring the always entertaining Adrien Broner and former World Title Challenger Jessie Vargas. Jermall Charlo will also be fighting on the card for the vacant WBC Interim Middleweight Title. Gervonta Davis will also be taking on Jesus Cuellar for the WBA Junior Lightweight Title.

Photo Credit: Jose Pineiro/SHOWTIME

The undercard will feature boxers such as former Olympian Rau’shee Warren, two sport star Heather Hardy, as well as Dylan Price.

The following is a preview of the three televised bouts.

Gervonta Davis (19-0) vs. Jesus Cuellar(28-2); WBA Regular Junior Lightweight Title

The opening bout of the night will be between Gervonta Davis, one of The Money Team’s best fighters in their stable, and Jesus Cuellar, a top contender in the featherweight division moving up to the junior lightweight division.

Davis is known for his knockout power, only of his opponents was able to make it to the final bell and he’s currently riding a ten fight win streak. However, Cuellar also has some power in his hands and has twenty one stoppage victories, though most of them came at a lighter weight.

Davis has been fairly active and fought three times in 2017 and twice in 2016. He is also eight years younger than Cuellar and will only be giving up a half an inch in reach and height. Cuellar has been very in active and did not fight in 2017 and only fought once in 2016.

Cuellar competed for Argentina at the Pan American Games several times as an amateur and Davis was able to win a National Golden Gloves Title.

Davis has defeated the likes of Francisco Fonseca, Liam Walsh, Jose Pedraza, and Cristobal Cruz. Cuellar has beaten the likes of Jonathan Oquendo, Vic Darchinyan, Ruben Tamayo, Juan Manuel Lopez, and Rico Ramos. His losses were to Oscar Escandon and Abner Mares.

This will be a good test for Davis, as Cuellar is a solid fighter with good technique who has been in the ring with several high level boxers. Both boxers are southpaws so it will be interesting to see if Davis can adjust to facing a southpaw. But Davis is simply too young and too powerful for Cuellar and he should be able to overwhelm Cuellar by the middle rounds.

Jermall Charlo (26-0) vs. Hugo Centeno (26-1); WBC Interim Middleweight Title

Jermall Charlo and Huge Centeno looks like it could be the most competitive bout of the night. Both boxers are twenty sveen years old and both only fought once in 2017 and twice in 2016.

Charlo is the bigger puncher of the two, as he has twenty stoppage victories, including four of his past five fights. Centeno only has fourteen stoppage victories. His lone loss was also by stoppage.

Charlo will be giving up two inches in reach and about an inch and a half in height to Centeno.

Both boxers had relatively successful amateur careers, but Centeno has a slight edge in terms of success. Charlo has a reported record of 65-6 as an amateur, while Centeno was very successful in the Junior Olympics, National PAL Tournament, and other National Tournaments in the United States.

Charlo has the better resume of the two. He has defeated Jorge Sebastian Heilan, Julian Williams, Austin Trout, Wilky Campfort, and Cornelius Bundrage. Centeno has defeated the likes of James De La Rosa and Immanuwel Aleem. His lone loss was to Maciej Sulecki.

The longer this fight goes the better the chances are of Centeno pulling off an upset. However, the Charlo brothers have been very impressive in the ring recently and should be considered to be the favorite.

Adrien Broner (33-3) vs. Jessie Vargas (28-2); Welterweight Division

The main event of the evening will be between the always controversial Adrien Broner and the very sound Jessie Vargas.

Both boxers are 28 years old, but Vargas will have a large four inch height advantage and a two inch reach advantage. They both also only fought three times in the past two years, Broner fought twice in 2017 and once in 2016, while Vargas fought once in 2017 and twice in 2016.

Broner has the clear edge in power of the two. He has twenty four stoppage wins to his credit while Vargas only has ten. They both had successful amateur careers. Broner was a National Silver Gloves Champion and had an amateur record of 300-19. Vargas was a two time Mexican National Champion and a two time US Junior National Champion and had an amateur record of 120-20.

Broner resume looks much better at the lighter weights in comparison to the heavier weight classes. His wins were over the likes of Adrian Granados, Ashley Theophane, Khabib Allakhverdiev, John Molina Jr., Carlos Molina, Paul Malignaggi, Antonio DeMarco, and Daniel Ponce De Leon. He has losses to Mikey Garcia, Shawn Porter, and Marcos Maidana.

Vargas has defeated the likes of Sadam Ali, Antonio DeMarco, Khabib Allakhverdiev, Wale Omotoso, and Josesito Lopez. His losses were to Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr.

Broner has been facing a lot of out of the ring issues recently and it may affect him on Saturday night. Vargas isn’t known for his power or an aggressive style that has been known to give Broner problems, but technically he’s sound and this writer has to give him a slight edge on Saturday night.

Posted on 10/15/2017

By: Sean Crose

The Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, hosted three major super welterweight bouts on Saturday, in a card which was aired live by the Showtime pay cable network. First up was a twelve rounder between 30-3 former titlist Austin Trout and 20-0 IBF Super Welterweight Champion Jarrett Hurd. Neither man was dominant in the first, but Trout and his clean punching had an edge. Trout moved well, employed angles and hit with effectiveness in the second. The third was close, but a more aggressive Hurd may have taken it by a hair.

Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime

By the fourth round, Trout was hitting hard and with precision. Hurd landed hard in fifth, however. Trout punched clean and often again in the 6th, yet by the end of the round, Hurd caused his man to stumble. Hurd continued to do damage in the early part of the 7th, but Trout was able to make up some ground.

Hurd’s strength looked to be coming through in the 8th, but Trout remained effective with his shots. Trout was clearly starting to gas, however. Entering the championship rounds, it was Hurd who looked fresher. Trout controlled the tenth until the very end, when Hurd almost finished him. The ring doctor halted the proceedings in between rounds

Next up was Jermell Charlo, 29-0 and Erickson Lubin, 18-0, for the WBC world super welterweight title. The first part of the first was slow. The second part was slow, too – until Charlo, the champion, took his man out with a single shot. “They threw a chair at my brother.”Charlo said after the bout, referring to an unseen incident. No one seemed to be seriously hurt. Not even Lubin.

It was time for the final event of the evening. Cuban-American Erislandy Lara, 24-2-2, defended his WBA super world super welterweight title against former US Olympian Terrell Gausha, 20-0. Lara, the southpaw, was able to control the first. The second was more of the same. Ditto for the third. The crowd started booing at the inaction in the fourth – only to have Lara suddenly drop his man with a right. Guasha got up, but was unable to effectively engage. Laura continued to dominate in patient fashion.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh were virtual repeats of each other. Lara dominated. Gausha was unable to make headway. The crowd booed again and began to empty the Barclay’s Center. In the eighth, Lara began to hurt his man. Gausha, though, was able to make it to the final bell. “There’s no change of gears,” Showtime’s Paulie Malignaggi claimed correctly. The fight stayed at the same pace throughout. Lara was rewarded with a unanimous decision win.