By Steve Kim
There has been a lot of talk of a fight between middleweight contenders Jermall Charlo and Hugo Centeno after the WBC decreed that those two fight for their interim middleweight title.
The World Boxing Council wants to push the division forward, as they ordered their world champion Gennady Golovkin to fight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a rematch. Golovkin and Canelo, who fought to a draw last September in Las Vegas, are in deep talks to face each other again on May 5.
When Centeno (26-1, 14 KO's) was asked about this match-up with Charlo, he told BoxingScene.com on Tuesday - "As far as I know, right now, it's just in the works. It was mentioned and they're trying to make the fight happen. They haven't give me anything concrete, yet. But it's better than having nothing on the table."
Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs), who previously held the IBF world title at junior middleweight, made the move to 160 pounds last year. He became the mandatory challenger to Golovkin when he picked up a TKO win against Jorge Sebastian Heiland in a WBC eliminator last July.
Centeno, who's coming off a highlight reel 3rd round knockout of Immanuwel Aleem on August 25th, expects this fight to take place in late February or early March.
"I would imagine, I'm getting myself ready for that. I've been in and out of the gym. Like I said, I'm ready for whatever comes my way,'' Centeno said from the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.
"I'm in the gym thinking I have a fight, whether it's with Charlo or without Charlo. My career has to got to move forward, I can't wait for anything," Centeno continued."But if that fight does happen, that's the one I'm asking for. Supposedly they're trying to make it happen."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com