By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Eddie Hearn had some fun at Jermall Charlo’s expense Thursday.
While discussing Daniel Jacobs’ options during a press conference in Manhattan, the British promoter referenced the much-discussed, face-to-face meeting between Jacobs and Charlo last month at Barclays Center. Jacobs confronted Charlo due to comments made on social media while Charlo was being interviewed by a group of videographers after the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz fight March 3 in Brooklyn (https://www.boxingscene.com/jermall-charlo-daniel-jacobs-confronting-me-just-an-act--125899).
“Mr. Charlo has been running his mouth recently,” Hearn said. “We love that fight as well. We all saw what Danny did to him in the corridor in the Barclays. I think he was still looking for his soul, which he left there that night.”
All kidding aside, Jacobs’ promoter wants to work with Jermall Charlo and his twin brother, Jermell Charlo.
“I’ll sign Jermall Charlo,” Hearn said Thursday while promoting a card headlined by the Jacobs-Maciej Sulecki middleweight fight Saturday night at Barclays Center (HBO). “I’ll sign both brothers. I’ll sign both of them and pay them a lot more money than they’re making at the moment. They don’t have a promoter and I like them. They’re great fighters, they’re making a lot of noise. They have no profile at all because they have no promoter. And now they’re doing it on their own. They’re coming out, they’re calling everybody out. I like what they’re doing.”
The boisterous brothers from Houston have been very vocal about wanting big fights against top opposition. The 27-year-old Charlos are advised by Al Haymon and are part of Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions organization, yet technically aren’t signed with a promoter.
Jermall Charlo (27-0, 21 KOs) knocked out Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-2, 14 KOs, 1 NC) in the second round Saturday night at Barclays Center to win the WBC interim middleweight title. He is also the WBC’s mandatory challenger for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC champ Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs).
Jermell Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) is scheduled to defend his WBC super welterweight title against former WBA champ Austin Trout (31-4, 17 KOs) on June 9 at Staples Center in Los Angeles (Showtime). If he defeats Trout, Jermell Charlo could be headed toward a title unification fight later this year with IBF/WBA 154-pound champ Jarrett Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs).
“I think they’ve got loads of potential,” Hearn said. “They’re not being promoted properly, other than by themselves. And they’re doing a great job of that, by the way. But they’re really starting to become stars now, the Charlos.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.