NEW YORK – Whatever happens the night of September 30, Jermell Charlo won’t use his long layoff, hand injury or anything else as an excuse after his fight with Canelo Alvarez. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Charlo won’t have fought for more than 16 months by the time he enters the ring to challenge Alvarez for his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles next month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. What on paper appears to be the most difficult fight of Charlo’s career also will represent his first action since he broke two bones in his left hand during a sparring session a few days before last Christmas.
The 33-year-old Charlo assured Showtime’s Brian Custer during a press conference Tuesday in Manhattan that he won’t point to his extended absence from the ring following their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
“I don’t give no excuses,” Charlo said while seated on stage at Palladium Times Square. “I don’t got excuses. Whatever happens, happens. I’m not coming in there to lay down. I’m coming to win. I’m coming to win this fight. I don’t care about all that other stuff. You know what I’m saying? Forget what they say. I don’t care about none of that.”
Mexico’s Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) has fought twice and underwent surgery on his left wrist since Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) knocked out Brian Castano in the 10th round of his most recent fight. Charlo’s victory over Argentina’s Castano (17-1-2, 12 KOs) took place in May 2022 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Charlo, of Richmond, Texas, was supposed to make a mandated defense of his WBO belt against Australia’s Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) on January 28 at Mandalay Bay Resort Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Their fight was postponed indefinitely once Charlo suffered his aforementioned hand injury.
Eventually, Charlo chose to face Alvarez instead of Tszyu because he’ll make much more money for this higher-profile fight. His admirable ambition notwithstanding, Charlo has boxed just twice since his eighth-round knockout of Jeison Rosario in their 154-pound title unification fight in September 2020 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Alvarez, also 33, has beaten rival Gennadiy Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) and British southpaw John Ryder (32-6, 18 KO), who was the WBO’s mandatory challenger, by unanimous decision in 12-round, 168-pound championship matches since Charlo atoned for his 12-round draw with Castano by knocking out his rugged opponent. The four-division champion is listed by most sportsbooks as a 4-1 favorite to beat Charlo, who has moved up two weight classes – 14 pounds altogether – for this shot at Alvarez’s titles. Custer informed Charlo that a writer for one publication predicted that this would amount to an “easy” fight for the Mexican icon.
“F--- ‘em! They don’t like me,” Charlo replied. “They ain’t never like me anyways. Them motherf----- never liked me. They write all that crazy sh!t. They talk crazy about me. They talk crazy about him. Like, be proud of what’s going on. Be happy for the fighter, you know? But I don’t care about them.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.