Tag Archives: jermall

Posted on 07/25/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Most of the boxing world stood in awe of Brian Castano. Just last weekend, the current WBO 154 pound titlist took on unified champion Jermell Charlo at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Heading in, most observers gave Charlo the edge. While their contest would ultimately end in a split decision draw, there were plenty of onlookers who believed Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) did more than enough to pick up the win.

Although Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) has racked up several high-quality wins over the course of his career, in the mind of many, Castano is a step above the rest of the competition he’s faced. For those who believe that’s the case, however, they’ll be immediately met with fulmination from current WBC middleweight titlist, and twin brother of Jermell in Jermall Charlo. Not only is he not convinced Castano is the best fighter his brother has ever fought but in fact, he believes he knows someone in the division who could defeat him.

“He threw a lot of punches,” said Jermall to a group of reporters following his brother’s split decision draw. “If you watch boxing you know. Tony Harrison would beat him.”

In back-to-back fights in 2018 and 2019, both Harrison and Charlo split a pair of meetings. Their first contest came in December of 2018. Despite being the heavy favorite, Charlo had significant trouble avoiding the jab of Harrison. That, in turn, resulted in the first defeat of his career, albeit controversial.

The two would do things again one year later but with vastly different end results. Charlo would score the stoppage win in the 11th after registering three knockdowns throughout the fight. Still, regardless of the explosive ending, Harrison was very much in the fight. At the time of stoppage, judge Tim Cheatham had it 95-94 in favor of Harrison. On the other hand, both David Southerland and Lou Mouret had it 96-93 in favor of Charlo.

With two close fights in the book between them, Jermall isn’t the only one who believes Harrison is a better fighter than Castano.

“I don’t think he was the best fighter he ever fought,” said Derrick James, trainer of Jermell. “He only had his way when Jermell stayed in one spot on the ropes. Other than that, he didn’t do anything. He’s not the best fighter he ever fought. I think Tony Harrison was probably better than him.”

Posted on 12/03/2019

By: Hans Themistode

Jermall Charlo will once again look to end yet another year with a bang.

This Saturday night at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York, Charlo is set to take on Dennis Hogan. If the name of Charlo’s opponent sounds familiar, it should. Hogan (28-2-1, 7 KOs) is fresh off a highly controversial loss at the hands of Jaime Munguia back in April, earlier this year. The contest took place at in the Jr Middleweight division.

Although Hogan will officially be moving up in weight to take on Charlo, he shouldn’t be considered the smaller man. Sure, he is stepping into this contest against Charlo with a four inch height disadvantage and a ridiculous five inch reach deficit, but he is by no means a small man. The Ireland born Hogan has fought as high Light Heavyweight in his career and will look to make a statement.

Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) isn’t oblivious to any of this. Since starting his career back in 2008, he has done nothing but win.

With a plethora of contenders and champions in the Middleweight division, many have wondered exactly why Charlo isn’t taking on a more notable name. According to the WBC belt holder, not many are willing to jump into the ring with him.

“Dennis Hogan is a guy who can fight and he has a great skill set,” said Charlo. He’s going to be someone who’s going to be right there and ready to fight.”

The styles of both fighters is sure to lead to a memorable night of boxing. With this being Charlo’s fourth fight in his last five at the Barclay Center, it’s safe to say that he has grown a certain fondness of the arena. Yet, it isn’t just the Barclay Center, but it is also the city of Brooklyn in which Charlo has really turned into his home away from home.

“I love Brooklyn,” said Charlo. “It’s almost my second home here. Lately I’ve been fighting here and I’ve had some explosive knockouts in Brooklyn along with going 12 rounds in Brooklyn as well. It’s been a journey. You have to stay tuned. PBC and Showtime has done an amazing job of bringing some great fights to Brooklyn and I just happened to be apart of it. I like to call it Brooklyn-Texas.”

Charlo may have all of his attention on Dennis Hogan, but he has certainly heard the chatter from another fighter in his division. One that just so happens to be fighting on the same card as him.

“I hear the things that Chris Eubank Jr says, but I’m not from the U.K. I’m from Houston Texas. We don’t play that around here. Everybody that talks about Jermall Charlo has to live up to it.”

Before we all begin to fantasize about what a potential matchup between Charlo and Eubank Jr would possibly look like, both men have to get past their respective opponents come Saturday night.

“I’m fully focused on Dennis Hogan. I’m not looking past him at all. December 7th, on Showtime, it’s going to be an explosive night. I promise to give Dennis Hogan something to remember for the rest of his night.”

Posted on 07/02/2019

By: Hans Themistode

WBC Middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) put on a great performance in front of his hometown crowd down in Houston Texas. He easily dispatched of Brandon Adams (21-3, 13 KOs) via unanimous decision. It was the first time that Charlo was defending his WBC title. During the contest, he showed that he not only has power but that he also can box his way to victory as well.

The loud, brash and confident Houston native needs a big fight for his next ring appearance. Or at the very least he needs to take on a credible name at the division in order to truly announce his presence. Who exactly should he take on next? Keep reading to find out.

Daniel Jacobs

Although Daniel Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) lost his last outing against Canelo Alvarez, he is still one of the very best Middleweights in the world. There is a belief that Jacobs has outgrown the division and will be looking to move up.

If a title opportunity presented itself however, he could be tempted to stick around. Charlo and Jacobs have a bit of a history of animosity towards one another. This is a fight that would sell itself. With the styles that both of these men possess, there will be no shortage of fireworks.

Sergiy Derevyanchenko

Jermall Charlo is a terrific young fighter, but he still needs a bit of seasoning. A matchup with Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) is what he should be aiming for. The former title challenger is chomping at the bit to get another crack at a world title.

Although he has just 14 fights under his belt he is well known for his amateur pedigree. Derevyanchenko would present a major step up in class for Charlo, but at this point its sink or swim. Let’s see what the WBC champion is made of.

Gennady Golovkin

A fight with former champion Gennady Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) would be tricky. Both fighters are on opposite sides of the street, so coming up with an agreement to fight would be a difficult one. However, if it can be made then this should be next for Charlo.

It was once believed that a fight between these two was to high risk and too little of a reward for Golovkin. Now that Charlo is the owner of the WBC title, it could entice Golovkin to step in to the ring with him. This one may seem farfetched but for the fans sake, let’s hope this one gets made next.

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 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 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 07/30/2017

By: Ken Hissner

At the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY, Mayweather Promotions, PBC and DiBella Entertainment promoted before 12,000 fans over Showtime Saturday night.

The 3 division champion and current WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia, 37-0 (30), of Moreno Valley, out of Oxnard, CA, easily defeated former 3 division champion of the world and No. 2 WBA welterweight Adrien “The Problem” Broner, 33-3 (24), of Cinn., OH, over 12 rounds.

In the opening round it took the aggressor Garcia close to a minute to land his first punch, a jab. Up until then it was Broner’s jab controlling. A Garcia lead right had Broner nailed on the chin. Later a left hook body shot by Garcia had Broner against the ropes. In the second round it was all Garcia. When Broner tried to tie him up Garcia pushed him back. Garcia got in several right hands to the body of Broner. In the third round like the first it was Broner’s jab for almost a minute before Garcia landed a counter left hook punch. At the halfway mark of the round Garcia landed a solid left hook to the body. With half a minute left in the round Garcia opened up with a flurry of punches ending with a right uppercut to the chin of Broner. In the fourth round Broner stayed in the pocket for the first time halfway through the round but did little as Garcia landed a flurry of punches twice in the second half of the round with the right uppercut to the chin of Broner at the end of the flurries.

In the fifth round Broner with hands held up right trying to stop the jab and lead right of Garcia but with little success to stop them. With 30 seconds to go in the round Garcia landed a solid left hook to the landed a combination. In the sixth round Garcia continued to pound Broner until a little than a minute left in he round before Broner landed a 3-punch combination to the head of Garcia. The round ended with a lead right from Garcia to the body of Broner. Broner’s corner is Around Broner came out strong for half a minute before dancing around throwing a weak jab as Garcia is all over him. With a minute left in the round Garcia lands punch after punch keeping Broner at bay. Just prior to the bell Garcia landed five unanswered punches with a right to the jaw among them rocked Broner. In the eighth round after a minute Garcia drops his hands challenging Broner to fight back. Garcia landed a dozen punches without return from Broner who landed a chopping right to the head. Broner came forward at the bell trying to steal the round but was stopped in his tracks by a Garcia hard jab. It was a big round once again by Garcia.

In the ninth round a right cross from Garcia grazed the jaw of Broner after the first minute of the round. Garcia keeps pressing Broner easily out landed Broner. Inside of a minute left in the round Broner landed several beltline or lower punched keeping Garcia on the defense. This may have been Broner’s best round since the first round. In the tenth round with Broner coming forward Garcia countered well. At the minute mark to go in the round Broner landed the best punch of the fight for him a left hook to the head of Garcia putting him back a step or two. Garcia finished strong with a combination at the bell. In the eleventh round Broner well behind in the fight was looking for a big punch but was taking a two-handed attack from Garcia. It was another big round for Garcia as both Garcia counters well as Broner keeps coming forward but landing little. A Broner body shot got Garcia’s attention as he came right back landing punch after punch. Garcia finished up as strong as he was in the first round. The referee was Harvey Dock.

Judges Weisfeld and Don Akerman had it 116-112 while Eric Marlinski had it 117-111 and this writer had it 119-109.

“I will stay at 140 but may move up to 147 in the future,” said Garcia. Broner was very bitter though omitting Garcia beat him. Using a couple of foul words as the crowd boo’d him Broner did little to convince anyone he will be back at the championship level as he was boasting. It was a superb performance by Garcia who is trained by his brother Robert Garcia.

In a WBC middleweight elimination bout IBF Super welterweight champion Jermall Charlo, 26-0 (20), of Houston, TX, stopped No. 1 WBC contender, southpaw middleweight Jorge Sebastian “El Gaucho de Pigue” Heiland, 29-5-2 (16), of Bueno Aires, ARG, at 2:13 of the fourth round.

Prior to the start of the fight the Boxing Commissioner made Heiland take off a wrapping around his left leg. In the opening round Charlo kept his jab in the face of Heiland throughout the round. It took Heiland half a round to land a punch though he was the aggressor. How he ever got to be the No. 1 contender must have been “paid for” as he plug’s along. In the second round with Charlo now the aggressor dropped Heiland at the halfway mark of the round with a right uppercut. Referee Benjy Estaves, Jr. administered the 8 count and upon rising made him walk to the left and right. He lasted out the round though a lead right from Charlo rocked him prior to the round ending. The bell sounded to start the round and referee Esteves brought the ring physician in to check the left leg of Heiland. Charlo continued landing the jab followed by lead right hands easily winning the round. Before the third round started the ring physician was brought in again to check Heiland. With one minute left in the round a left hand to the ear dropped Heiland. He got up and looked like a drunken soldier falling back into the ropes forcing the stoppage. This was a mismatch when Heiland signed the contract. He could have had three “good legs” and he was going to be stopped early.

“First I want to thank God for this opportunity along with Showtime and feel I am ready for the best in the middleweight division,” said Charlo.

Heavyweight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, 19-0-1 (17), Brooklyn, NY, stopped Gerald “El Gallo Negro” Washington, 18-2-1 (12), of Vallejo, CA, at the end of the eighth round of a scheduled 10.

Miller landed four right hands and had Washington out on his feet forcing referee Gary Rosato to call a halt.

“I want to thank God for the victory. I’m surprised they took this fight. I lost 40 pounds (came in at 298) for this fight. I want to be another American world heavyweight champion,” said Miller. He is No. 7 in the WBO, WBA and IBF while Washington was No. 15 in the WBC.

For Olympian southpaw Rau’sheen Warren, 15-2 (4), of Cinn., OH, bounced back after losing his WBA Super World bantamweight title earlier this year with a win in a super bantamweight bout over McJoe Arroyo, 17-2 (8), of Fajardo, PR, who lost his IBF Super World Flyweight title last year losing over 12 rounds by scores of 118-110 and 117-111 twice.

Posted on 07/28/2017

By: William Holmes

On Saturday night Showtime and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) will present one of the best boxing matches during the month of August as Adrien Broner takes on Mikey Garcia in the junior welterweight division. Jermall Charlo will also be making his debut in the middleweight division as he bumps a weight class to take on Jorge Sebastian Heiland.

The undercard is also stacked and featured several entertaining fights and high level prospects. Jarrell Miller will face Gerald Washington in a matchup featuring two top ranked heavyweights. Katie Taylor and Rau’shee Warren are two former Olympians that will also be competing on the undercard.

The following is a preview of the televised portion of the bouts that Showtime will be televising live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Jermall Charlo (25-0) vs. Jorge Sebastian Heiland (29-4-2); Middleweights

Jermall Charlo is dropping his junior middleweight title to bump up to his brother’s division and chase a world title there. He’s younger than his brother by one minute but they hope to hold titles in the same division as the same time.

Charlo is twenty seven years old and younger than his Argentinean opponent by three years. He’s from Houston, Texas and has been relatively active in the past two years. He fought twice in 2016 and three times in 2017. He stands at 6’0”, but has a pretty good reach of 73 ½”. Heiland has fought once in 2017, twice in 2016, and once in 2015.

Heiland is a southpaw and has four losses on his record. He doesn’t have the power of Charlo and has stopped sixteen of his opponents. Charlo has stopped nineteen boxers.

Despite his four losses Heiland has been boxing well recently. He is currently riding an 8 win fight streak. Neither boxer has any notable amateur titles.

Charlo’s most impressive victory was in his last bout when he defeated Philadelphia native Julian Williams by knockout. His other notable victories include Austin Trout, Winky Campfort, and Cornelius Bundrage.

Heiland’s only notable victory was a knockout over Matthew Macklin before Macklin retired. He has losses to Mateo Damian Veron, Billi Godoy, Nilson Tapia, and Sebastian Zbik.

Even though Charlo is bumping up a weight division, he’s facing an opponent that is not on his skill level. It’s a good first fight to feel out the middleweight division for Charlo.

Adrien Broner (33-2) vs. Mikey Garcia (36-0); Junior Welterweights

Adrien Broner has been in the news a lot recently, but not for boxing. He’s had a few run ins with the law, including an arrest in April of 2017 when the SUV he was driving was found to have bullet holes in it. Broner claimed at the time that his vehicle was shot at.

Broner is a boxer with amazing talents, but the outside issues could be a distraction and he’s facing an elite level talent.

Broner and Garcia are similar in age, with Broner being 28 years old and Garcia being 29. They are also similar in size and height. They are the same height and stand in at 5’6”. Garcia will have a slight reach advantage of one inch.

Neither boxer has been very active in the past two years fighting under the PBC banner. Broner only fought once in 2017 and 2016, but did fight three times in 2015. Garcia only fought once in 2017 and 2016, and did not fight in 2015 and most of 2014 due to contract issues with Top Rank Promotions.

Broner has defeated the likes of Adrian Granados, Ashley Theophane, Khabib Allakhverdiev, John Molina Jr., Emmanuel Taylor, Carlos Molina, Paulie Malignaggi, Antonio Demarco, Daniel Ponce De Leon, and Eloy Perez. His losses were to Shawn Porter and Marcos Maidana.

Garcia’s inactivity has cost him some possible big name matchups, but he still has a good list of defeated opponents. He has defeated the likes of Dejan Zlaticanin, Elio Rojas, Juan Carlos Burgos, Roman Martinez, Juan Manuel Lopez, Orlando Salido, and Jonathan Victor Barros.

Both boxers experienced some success on the national level as an amateur. Broner as a National Silver Gloves Champion and Garcia was a US Pal Gold Medalist and a US Junior Golden Gloves Gold Medalist.

Garcia’s inactivity and recent wins against subpar competition would normally big a cause of concern when facing a highly skilled opponent like Adrien Broner, but Broner’s recent run ins with the law and his two losses against top level opponents is a bigger concern.

This writer wouldn’t be shocked if Broner emerges victorious, but the edge has to go to Garcia.

Posted on 04/25/2017

Twin Power: The Charlo Brothers
By: Kirk Jackson

One half of the powerful twin tag team duo was on display this past weekend as Jermell Charlo29-0 (14 KO’s) successfully defended his WBC junior middleweight title, stopping Charles Hatley26-2-1 via 6th round knockout.

In his first defense of his WBC title against the no.1 contender, Charloshowcased a wide range of skills.Displaying offensive versatility;stiff jabs, accurate straight punches, counter left hooks, punching power and range-awareness.
Charlo rocked Hatleyin the 2nd round, dropped Hatley with a right hand in the 3rd round and ultimately finished him in the 6th round.

A boxing-brother tandem issomething we’ve witnessed in the sport as there are many successful examples throughout history.

Juan Manuel and Rafael Marquez, Koki, Daiki and Tomoki Kameda, Ricky and Matthew Hatton, Michael and Leon Spinks, Roger, Jeff and Floyd Mayweather Sr., Vitali and WladimirKlitschko who reigned as heavyweight kings for more than a decade.

The Charlo brothers appear to be the next tandem to take over and they are twins – the Charlo brothers are only the second set of twins to hold world titles at the same time.

The first is Khaosai Galaxy (junior bantamweight) and Khaokor Galaxy (bantamweight), of Thailand, briefly holding world titles simultaneously in the late 1980s.

Jermell aims to dominate the junior middleweight division now that his twin Jermall moved up to the middleweight division.

The younger twin brother (one minute younger) spoke of his ambitions post-fight after defeating Hatley. “They got a guy named JarretHurd that took my brother’s title – we could unify,” said Jermell Charlo.

Hurd 20-0 (14 KO’s) recently won the IBF junior middleweight title Jermall Charlo 25-0 (19 KO’s) vacated in February.
The possibility of facing and potentially defeating another undefeated champion, while adding an additional world title is a great accomplishment and feather on the cap.

The other champions in the division are stable mate Erislandy Lara (WBA) 22-2-2 (14 KO’s) and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (WBO) 48-1-1 (34 KO’s).

Lara and the Charlo brothers shared the same trainer, Ronnie Shields. Although Jermell is no longer with Shields, the prospect of Jermell and Lara fighting is less than likely.

It’s also unlikely we’ll see Jermell vs. Alvarez, with Alvarez facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at 164 lbs. and the Mexican star probably staying in the middleweight division after his clash with Chavez Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Canelo’s ascension towards middleweight does open the door for Jermall however.

Another notable name in the division is the former WBO junior middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade 24-0 (16 KO’s).

He currently holds a portion of the WBA title – one of the many fragments and is adamant on beating both Charlo brothers.

@TwinCharlo@Laraboxing@FutureOfBoxing@NoDoubtTrout Vanes you got 3 fights against these guys, they won't even mention my name lol

— Demetrius Andrade (@BooBooAndrade) September 29, 2016

@danrafaelespn Hello?? Can you hear me?? 154 lb division??? Has everyone retired?? @TwinCharlo@Laraboxing@FutureOfBoxing@NoDoubtTrout

— Demetrius Andrade (@BooBooAndrade) September 28, 2016

A fight between the two needs to happen. The winner has the opportunity to unify titles in the division and may establish himself as not only the best at 154, but as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in boxing.

Regarding Jermall at 160 lbs., he is ranked no.2 according to the WBC middleweight rankings and intends on becoming the mandatory challenger for Gennady Golovkin’s 37-0 (33 KO’s) WBC title. However he must defeat Argentinian Jorge Sebastian Heiland to secure that position.

Jermall had a solid run at 154, defeating a faded world titlist at the time Cornelius Bundrage, a strong former champion Austin Trout and one of the best, undefeated, world contenders Julian Williams.

The older twin brother was a terror at junior middleweight; technically sound, a nice blend of overall speed, punching power and athleticism.

If Jermall can carry these traits to middleweight, he’ll present problems to anyone.

Match-ups against Alvarez, Chavez, Golovkin sound intriguing on paper. Even match-ups against some of the other factors at middleweight; WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders, former titlists Danny Jacobs, David Lemieux and Andy Lee, all sound like interesting fights.

It’s just a matter of manifesting. Can each brother put a strangle hold on their respective division?

Will this be the year the twin tag team takes over boxing?

Posted on 12/09/2016

Showtime Championship Boxing Preview: Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina, Cuellar vs. Mares, Charlo vs. Williams
By: William Holmes

Showtime will be televising three world title fights on Saturday from two separate locations. The first bout they will be showing is an IBF Heavyweight Title Bout between Anthony Joshua and Eric Molina in Manchester, England. Coincidentally, HBO will also be showing a heavyweight title bout around the same time.

The other two bouts they will be showing is a WBA Featherweight Title bout between Jesus Cuellar and Abner Mares, as well as a very intriguing IBF Junior Middleweight Title bout between Jermall Charlo and Julian Williams.

Two of the three bouts should be very competitive and intriguing bouts, with only the heavyweight bout having a clear and hands down favorite.

The following is a preview of all three world title bouts.

Anthony Joshua (17-0) vs. Eric Molina (25-3); IBF Heavyweight Title

Of the three world title fights that Showtime is televising, this is by far, the biggest mismatch.

Eric Molina is thirty four years old and seven years older than his opponent. He will be giving up three inches in reach and two inches in height. He also has three knockout losses and will be facing an opponent that has defeated every single boxer he’s faced as a professional by stoppage.

Molina does have nineteen knockouts, but he was unable to stop nine of his opponents.

Anthony Joshua has been very active in the past two years. He has already fought twice in 2016 and fought five times in 2015. Molina fought once in 2016 and three times in 2015.

Joshua has the edge in amateur experience. He won the gold medal in the Super Heavyweight division in 2012. Joshua will also be fighting in front of a friendly crowd in Manchester, England.

The only reason Molina is fighting Joshua is because he scored a huge upset over the veteran Tomasz Adamek in his last fight in Adamek’s home country of Poland. However, his list of notable victories is short. His biggest wins have come against Adamek, DaVarryl Williamson, and Tony Grano. He has lost, by stoppage, to Deontay Wilder, Chris Arreola, and Ashanti Jordan.

Joshua has defeated the likes of Dominic Breazeale, Charles Martin, Dillian Whyte, Gary Cornish, and Kevin Johnson.

Every single victory that Joshua has earned has come by way of stoppage. Every single loss that Molina has suffered has come by way of stoppage.

The expectations are that those trends will continue.

Jesus Cuellar (28-1) vs. Abner Mares (29-2-1); WBA Featherweight Title

Abner Mares has had recent issues with his eyes and it has been questioned if he should ever fight again.

Mares is a good boxer, but he’s a former bantamweight world champion and is likely fighting in a higher weight class than he should be.

Mares will be giving up an inch and a half in height to Jesus Cuellar and will be giving up two inches in reach. Cuellar also has the edge in power. He has twenty one stoppage victories, all at a higher weight class than what Mares is used to competing in. Mares’ power hasn’t followed him as he’s gone up in weight classes but he still has fifteen stoppage victories.

Mares is two years older than Cuellar, but has been in the ring with some of the best bantamweights the sport of boxing has to offer. His losses were to Leo Santa Cruz and Jhonny Gonzlaez. He has defeated the likes of Daniel Ponce De Leon, Jonathan Oquendo, Anselmo Moreno, Eric Morel, Joseph Agbeko, and Vic Darchinyan.

Cuellar hasn’t fought the same level of competition that Mares has fought as a professional, but he still has an impressive resume. He has defeated Jonathan Oquendo, Vic Darchinyan, Ruben Tamayo, Juan Manuel Lopez, and Rico Ramos. His lone loss was in 2011 to Oscar Escandon.

The biggest question mark about Cuellar on Saturday will be ring rust. He had no fights in 2016 and will be in the ring with an experienced opponent.

Mares does have the edge in amateur experience. Cuellar experienced some success in regional tournaments as an amateur, but Mares represented Mexico in the 2004 Olympics.

Mares career appears to be on the downside of his career. He’s good enough to make the fight competitive and close with Cuellar, but Cuellar is the naturally bigger boxer and should be considered the favorite.

Jermall Charlo (24-0) vs. Julian Williams (22-0-1); IBF Junior Middleweight Title

If you talk to anyone involved in the Philadelphia boxing scene, they will tell you that Julian “J-Rock” Williams is one of Philadelphia’s best boxers and has the potential to be a world champion.

That reputation may have hurt Williams’ chances at securing a title shot as he has been avoided by many the past two years, but he’ll get his first chance at a world title against a very dangerous champion.

Jermall Charlo, one half of the Charlo twins, is the same age as Williams but will have a one inch height and a one inch reach advantage over Williams. He also has more knockout victories. He has stopped eighteen of the boxers he’s faced while Williams has only stopped fourteen.

They both had good amateur careers, but neither can claim any international amateur success.

Charlo has the more impressive professional resume. He has defeated the likes of Austin Trout, Wilky Campfort, Cornelius Bundrage, and Antwone Smith. Two of Charlo’s past four fights were stoppage victories.

Williams has had trouble attracting a top name opponent into the ring with him, but he has beaten fighters such as Marcello Matano, Luciano Leonel Cuello, Joey Hernandez, Freddy Hernandez, and Joachim Alcine. However, William’s power appears to be improving as he has stop four of his past five opponents.

Everything on paper appears to suggest that Charlo should be the favorite on Saturday, but Williams has been avoided for a reason, and this writer believes Williams will win the IBF Junior Middleweight Title on Saturday.

Posted on 05/22/2016

Showtime World Championship Boxing Results:
By: William Holmes

Mayweather Promotions and TGB Promotions televised three title fights in the junior middleweight division as the WBA, IBF, and WBC belts were up for grabs. Five the top six fighters in the junior middleweight division competed on tonight’s card.

Showtime networks televised the bouts live from the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, despite the fact three world titles were on the line a lot of empty seats were seen inside the venue.

Photo Credit: Amanda Westcott/Showtime

Jermell Charlo (27-0) and John Jackson (20-2) opened up tonight’s broadcast with for the WBC Junior Middleweight Title.

Charlo, a large favorite, was giving up a few inches in height to Jackson. Jackson used his jab effectively in the opening round and even had Charlo briefly caught in the corner. Jackson attacked more to the body in the second round and was able to end the round with a strong counter right on a forward moving Charlo.

Charlo continued to have trouble finding his rhythm in the third round as Jackson was the more accurate puncher and was landing some good shots to the body. Charlo tried in vain to chase Jackson around the ring and trap him, but Jackson was throwing and landing more combinations than his opponent.

Charlo landed his first hard clean shot of the night in the fifth round with a sweeping left hook in the fifth round that got the attention of Jackson. Charlo was also able to put together a good body head right hook combination near the end of the round.

Jackson was able to go back to his lateral movement in the sixth round and was able to touch Charlo often with quick jabs and crosses before moving out of the way. Charlo was much more aggressive in the seventh round and was able to land some hard right crosses to the chin of Jackson, but Jackson was still able to land combinations of his own.

Charlo was able to get in close to Jackson in the opening minute of the ieghth round and blasted him with a right hook that had Jackson frozen and unable to defend himself, and he then followed it up with a left hook that hard Jackson falling back into the corner and out on his feet.

The referee quickly jumped in and stopped the fight before Jackson could get hurt any more. Jermell Charlo won by TKO at 0:51 of the eighth round.

Jermall Charlo (23-0) faced Austin Trout (30-2) in the co-main event of the night for the IBF Junior Middleweight Title.

Trout has been in the ring with high level competition such as Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto, but he was in the ring with a taller and younger boxer with a high level ceiling.
Jermall Charlo is considered by many to be the stronger puncher of the twin brothers.

Charlo had a strong jab in the opening round and Trout was throwing his jab to the body and connected with a left uppercut to the chin. Their feet got tangled up and Trout slipped to the mat. Charlo was able to land a good straight right lead in the final minute of the round.

The second round was close to call, but Charlo landed the hardest punch of the round with a short left hook. Trout however, was able to land more punches, especially to the body. The difference in power was evident in the third round, as Charlo was able to land several hard right hands to the cin of Trout which got the crowd roaring in approval.

Trout showed good head movement in the fourth round and was able to pepper Charlo from the outside. Trout stunned Charlo in the fifth round with a lead right hook, and he remained elusive enough to avoid the hard shots of Charlo. Charlo came on in the second half of the fifth round and was able to cause some swelling around the right eye of Trout.

It was clear that Charlo was not afraid of Trout’s power in the sixth round and he continued to come forward and was able to land some clubbing right hands.

Trout was able to land some solid counter left crosses and short uppercuts in the seventh round, but you could tell that Trout was very cautious of the power of Charlo. Charlo was able to land a hard straight right hand in the final seconds, but still, the seventh round was a good round for Austin Trout.

They both stepped off the gas pedal a little bit in the eighth round, but Trout was looking more confident in throwing and landing his combinations. Charlo stepped up his aggression in the ninth round and was effective with his heavy jabs.

A cut opened up over the right eye of Austin Trout in the tenth round, and boxers landed their fair share of punches, but Charlo was definitely landing the harder shots.

Trout likely needed a knockout in the final two rounds to win the bout. But he fought well and could have won these rounds on some of the judges’ scorecards.

Unexpectedly, the judges scored the bout in favor of Jermall Charlo with scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112.

The main event of the night was between Erislandy Lara (22-2-2) and Vanes Martirosyan (36-2-1) in a rematch for the WBA Junior Middleweight Title.

Lara, a southpaw, was using a lot of up and down movement and was active with his jab in the opening round. Martirosyan was most effective when he threw to the body, but Lara landed more to the head.

The second and third rounds were slow, but the slow pace favored the style of Lara who was able to pop shot Martirosyan and move safely out of the way.

Lara was aggressive at the start of round, and a hematoma started to form on the head of Martirosyan. Martirosyan was warned again in the fourth round to keep his body punches up.

The fifth round featured more action than the previous round, with Lara’s best punch being the straight left to the head and Martirosyan’s best punches being the hooks to the body. The same theme repeated itself in the sixth round, but Martirosyan’s body punches were beginning to land with more frequency.

In the sixth round, Lara’s high guard was getting banged by the shots of Martirosyan and some were sneaking through. Martirosyan’s activity was much higher than Lara in this round.

The seventh round was close but Martirosyan was able to land some good body shots. Lara opened up the eighth round with quick combinations and more aggression. Lara landed clean to the nose of Martirosyan with a hard straight left hand near the end of the round.

Martirosyan fought a good ninth round but constantly coming forward and attacking to the body and threatening the chin with short quick uppercuts. Martirosyan had Lara fighting while moving backwards in the tenth round by pressing the pace and banging hard hooks to the body and head of his opponent. A clash of heads occurred in the tenth and Martirosyan hit Lara with a low blow and received a hard warning for the referee.

Martirosyan hit Lara with another low blow in the eleventh round and was deducted a point by the referee. Martirosyan was infuriated, and fought with fury for the remainder of the round but was unable to hurt Lara. Martirosyan went hard for the knockout in the final round and likely won it, but Lara fought defensively and safely and was never in danger of getting knocked down.

Erislandy Lara retained his title with scores of 115-112, 116-111, and 116-111.