Jermall Charlo has been both out of sight and out of mind. For the most part, the idleness of his career has been out of his control.
It was a solid year for Charlo in 2021. He was fresh off arguably his biggest win the year prior against Sergiy Derevyanchenko and parlayed that showing into another victory over Juan Macias Montiel.
Since then, things have gone downhill. It all started with a nagging back injury. Once the Houston native made a full recovery, however, he was forced to deal with a slew of personal issues.
All along, dust began piling up on his WBC middleweight title. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years. Still, there were no signs that Charlo would eventually return. He also felt no pressure from the WBC sanctioning body.
Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) took his time. He wouldn’t say much, but he did reveal to fans that he needed to get himself 100% right both physically and mentally before returning. After finally doing so, he’ll make his return on November 25th in the co-main event slot on a pay-per-view show against Jose Benavidez Jr. Occupying the top spot on that show will be Demetrius Andrade and David Benavidez.
Andrade, for years now, was hoping to face Charlo. But, with numerous promotional issues standing in the way, he’s coming to the conclusion that it may never happen. As for what the future may hold for Charlo, Andrade believes all isn’t lost. Although he hasn’t formally moved up in weight, all signs point to him doing so. If and when he does become a full-fledged super middleweight, Andrade has a feeling that he’ll fit in just fine.
“He’s undefeated," Andrade told BoxingScene.com. "At 168 you still got a lot of fighters. There’s Danny Jacobs, Caleb Plant. He can definitely be a character in that division. He can make one of those fights happen.”