Pick It: The Charlo Show (Saturday, Showtime PPV, 7 PM EST)

Let’s call it the centerpiece of boxing Christmas. The Charlo brothers have delivered solid television ratings and now they’re looking to take their act into a new income bracket. The way it’s structured, it’s supposed to be treated as two cards in one broadcast. Fair enough. TBRB #3 middleweight Jermall (30-0, 22 KO) will defend the WBC strap against former title challenger #2 Sergey Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KO).

It’s a hard fight to imagine being dull. That’s the first main event. Later in the evening (fire up the coffee on the east coast), #4 Jr. middleweight and WBC titlist Jermell (33-1, 17 KO) faces #1 and WBA/IBF titlist Jeison Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KO) to unify three major straps. Throw in an interesting bantamweight title fight (Johnriel Casimero-Duke Micah) and the returns of Luis Nery and Daniel Roman and there’s still one fight to go. It’s a pay-per-view delivering value for the cost and should be a solid capper to a day chock full of boxing goodness.  

Additional Shows to Watch For

Saturday – #1 Taylor vs. Khongsong (ESPN+, 2:30 PM EST)

Unified Jr. welterweight titlist Josh Taylor (16-0, 12 KO) might be on the verge  of a four-belt unification with Jose Ramirez. He has to win first. Before he gets there, he lands on a mandatory that he should win but that could play as a trap fight. Thailand’s Apinun Kohngsong (16-0, 13 KO) has shown some pop but he’s relatively untested and unknown. It’s hard to say what fans have here but there are days where mandatories become known commodities overnight. Only one way to find out.

Saturday – #1 Briedis vs. #2 Dorticos (DAZN, 3 PM EST)

After a lengthy wait, the finals of the World Boxing Super Series arrive to crown  a new, legitimate world champion in the cruiserweight division. TBRB, Ring, ESPN...they’ve all got a variation of the same 1-2 in class in the wake of Oleksandr Usyk’s vacancy at 200 lbs. Mairis Briedis (26-1, 19 KO) and Yuniel Dorticos (24-1, 22 KO) both took their lone losses in the first iteration of the WBSS semi-finals. This is arguably the most evenly matched fight of the day with multiple possibilities. All of them involve big men landing big leather. It’s a must watch for any serious fight fan.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of  the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com