Jermall Charlo: A Future Delayed, Not Denied

By Thomas Gerbasi

Jermall Charlo is in Las Vegas to fight this week, but it’s not what it could have been. If not for an aborted March 8 title fight with Carlos Molina, the Houston native might have earned a spot on Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana undercard, putting his skills on display on what is likely to be the biggest Pay-Per-View event of 2014.

That’s not what’s happening though. Charlo will still see television time, but it’s tonight at the Hard Rock in an eight-round matchup with Mexico’s Norberto Gonzalez, a fighter with a decent record but who has lost three of his last five and two straight.

Welcome to boxing, where you usually make your own breaks with your fists, but occasionally those breaks are made for you before you even get a chance to put the gloves on.

The latter scenario was the case with Charlo – unbeaten, talented, and a 24-year-old whose nickname “The Future of Boxing,” may prove to be an apt one. Some were surprised when he found his way into an IBF title fight against Molina on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo undercard, but few, if any, doubted his ability to win the fight.

But on March 4, Molina was arrested on an outstanding 2007 warrant for failing to register as a sex offender in Wisconsin. Molina was granted bail but then wasn’t released when it was discovered that he was in the U.S. illegally. Not surprisingly, the case filled headlines, especially when the fight was canceled, but lost in the shuffle was Charlo.

“It was more embarrassing to him and his people and his family rather than me not fighting,” he said. “For me, you take the good with the good and the bad with the bad in this sport. I just try to not think about it and keep pressing forward. I was so eager and anxious, but I couldn’t be a big kid about it. I fought myself to not just go crazy about not fighting for the world title at that time. I felt like it was my opportunity, but I’m young, and I know I’m gonna get another opportunity to fight for the world title and capture it. But it was just one of those times where it was out of my hands.”

There’s probably no worse feeling for a boxer to have his hands tied or not even involved in the equation. Take away the fact of Charlo losing the fight without having stepped through the ropes. Not getting that chance and that opportunity means no title, no bigger paydays, and no movement toward the big fights every boxer wants. That’s something you don’t get over immediately, if you get over it at all.

“It’s like I’m starting all over again,” he said.

But first, there was the disappointment of that night.

“I made my camp the best camp, I had the whole city behind me and I just had to tell them ‘hey, I’m not fighting,’” Charlo recalled. Yet through it all, he took the letdown with a grace you don’t often see in pro sports.

“I’m 24 years old, and I’m fairly young in my career, but a lot of people do look up to me, so I had all that in the back of my head where I had to set a good example to just get by,” he said. “It was almost like a kid thinking Christmas is coming and someone lies to the kid and tells him Christmas is coming up and it’s not actually Christmas. It was a letdown and I did reach out a little bit, but I tried to keep it calm. I tried to make fun of it. I had a picture on Instagram with my hands out like ‘what’s going on?’ But deep down inside I was crying.”

Charlo would be back in the ring a month and a half later, stopping Hector Munoz in three rounds to improve his record to 18-0 with 14 KOs. The IBF voted against him getting another shot at Molina, instead forcing the Mexico native to face his mandatory challenger Cornelius Bundrage on October 11 in Cancun, leaving Charlo with Gonzalez. He knows he’s not where he should be, but he’s making the most of where he is, and that’s all he can do at this point.

“This was just an obstacle in my career and my life,” he said of the Molina debacle. “Of course I could be making a lot more money for the fights than I’m making now because I would have a world title, but at the same time it’s just a stage that’s set up by God and it’s meant for me to be where I’m at right now. I’m starting from scratch, but now I have a little bit more experience, a little bit more focus. Knowing that I was right there and smelled the coffee but I didn’t taste it, I woke up and it’s reality. Me going into this fight, my hunger is built and my fire is lit; I just have to continue to excel and show good sportsmanship.”