SAN ANTONIO – Jermell Charlo respects Brian Castano and what the Argentinean champion has accomplished.
The Houston native still doesn’t think Castano is the toughest opponent he has agreed to fight during his 13-year professional career.
“I feel like I done faced tougher opponents,” Charlo told BoxingScene.com following a press conference Thursday at the Thompson San Antonio-Riverwalk hotel. “Better guys, tougher opponents, everything. I think he’s the full package, though, for sure.”
Charlo mentioned one recent opponent and one foe from earlier in his career when asked to identify fighters he feels were better than the rugged, unbeaten Castano.
“I’ve had some tough fights in my life, bro,” Charlo said. “Rosario was great. I think Vanes Martirosyan was pretty tough. It was a lot of tough fighters, man. I can’t compare them like that, but they all come with different things and this is just a different fighter.”
The shorter, stout Castano is an aggressive fighter who likely will apply plenty of pressure on Charlo. Buenos Aires’ Castano has acknowledged Charlo’s power, however, and realizes that he must be careful during their 12-round, 154-pound title unification fight Saturday night at AT&T Center.
The hard-hitting Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs) dropped Rosario (20-3-1, 14 KOs) three times on his way to winning their title unification bout by eighth-round knockout September 26 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Five years earlier, Charlo out-pointed Martirosyan (36-4-1, 21 KOs) by unanimous decision in a 10-round, non-title fight at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Charlo overcame Martirosyan, a 2004 U.S. Olympian from Glendale, California, in their competitive contest by scores of 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94.
The 31-year-old Charlo can become boxing’s sixth fully unified champion of the four-belt era and the first within the 154-pound division by conquering Castano.
The IBF/WBA/WBC champion is consistently listed as more than a 2-1 favorite to beat Castano, who will make the first defense of the WBO junior middleweight title he won from Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira in his most recent bout. Castano, a former WBA champion, pressured the left-handed Teixeira (31-2, 22 KOs) throughout their 12-round encounter and won by unanimous decision February 13 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
Though confident he’ll win in their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event, Charlo declined to predict a knockout victory.
“I don’t know,” Charlo said during the press conference. “I can’t predict the future, but I just know I’m much stronger than I was. I’m much faster, I feel. I feel like I’m ready. You know, like it’s not just about, you know, the power. You know, I got power in both hands, power in every punch, power in every shot from different angles.
“I’m excited. I’m excited to see what I can do. I’m excited to be in this moment. I’m thankful for this opportunity to be facing another champion. You know, this is not just an opponent. This is a champion, so I’m thankful. I know he got a game plan. And we’ll figure out what to do on Saturday to him.”
Showtime will broadcast Charlo-Castano after a 12-round co-feature in which Las Vegas’ Rolando Romero (13-0, 11 KOs) will defend his WBA interim lightweight title against Sweden’s Anthony Yigit (24-1-1, 8 KOs). In the opener of Showtime’s tripleheader, Uruguay’s Amilcar Vidal (12-0, 11 KOs) and Immanuwel Aleem (18-2-2, 11 KOs), of Richmond, Virginia, will square off in a 10-round middleweight match.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.