Former super welterweight champion and top middleweight contender Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) has promised to clean out his new division - until one of the big names face him.
Charlo will first collide with once-beaten contender Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-1, 14 KOs) for the WBC's Interim middleweight world championship on March 3rd, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The contest will serve as the Showtime televised co-feature to the heavyweight showdown between WBC world champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) and unbeaten challenger Luis Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs).
Should Charlo defeat Centeno, he will become the mandatory challenger to WBC world title.
The title is currently held by Gennady Golovkin, who stakes that belt on May 5th, against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a rematch.
"We can't let Houston down now. My brother and I have made it this far. We can't stop now. It's my turn to put on a spectacular performance on March 3. I'm trying to one-up my brother's previous performance each time I step in there," Charlo said.
"My goal is to show everybody that I'm the best middleweight in the world. I'm going to keep fighting everyone they put in front of me. I'm going to knock them out one-by-one until Canelo or Golovkin have to face me."
To get there, he must get past Centeno - and Charlo has no problem with ending the fight very early.
"If he can stand up to my power, we're going to fight and it'll be a brutal war. If he can't, I'll take him out in the first round," Charlo said.
"I've had the chance to work on some improvements to my game since my last fight. I think having even more patience in the ring is going to help step my game up even higher. I want to be a champion at middleweight more than I did at 154-pounds.
"Hugo Centeno Jr. is another fighter who is in my way. I know he'll come in prepared, but I'm confident I'm going to walk out of there with the victory. This is going to be a big year for me and my brother. We're going to keep showing everyone why we're so feared."
