By Keith Idec
Jermell Charlo recognizes that fellow 154-pound champions Erislandy Lara and Jarrett Hurd are on a collision course.
The undefeated WBC super welterweight champ wants nothing more than to begin unifying titles, though. So while waiting to face whoever wins between Lara (25-2-2, 14 KOs), the WBA champion, and Hurd (21-0, 15 KOs), who holds the IBF title, Charlo has suggested his own title unification fight against newly crowned WBO champ Sadam Ali.
Charlo expressed his plan in a Tweet posted from his account Friday. It reads: I Got A Plan.. Since Hurd & Lara Beefed Up, Let Them Fight.. The Winner Fights Me After I Destroy The Gifted 147LB Who Got A Blessing From Cotto (Ali) ONLY ONE CHAMPION.. WHO YOU GOT WINNING?
Brooklyn’s Ali (26-1, 14 KOs), a welterweight for most of his pro career, pulled off one of boxing’s biggest upsets of 2017 when he out-boxed Puerto Rico’s Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs) to win the WBO super welterweight title December 2 at Madison Square Garden.
Houston’s Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) had a very successful 2017, in which he recorded two top candidates for “Knockout of the Year.”
Charlo knocked out Dallas’ Charles Hatley (26-2-1, 18 KOs) in the sixth round of their April 22 bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Then Charlo produced a spectacular, one-punch, first-round knockout of another mandatory challenger, previously unbeaten Erickson Lubin (18-1, 13 KOs), on October 14 at Barclays Center.
Hurd and Lara also won impressively as part of that October 14 card.
Hurd, of Accokeek, Maryland, became the first fighter to stop former WBA champion Austin Trout (30-4, 17 KOs), who declined to continue following the 10th round. Lara, a Houston resident raised in Cuba, dropped Terrell Gausha (20-1, 9 KOs) in the fourth round and easily won a 12-round unanimous decision in the main event that night.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.