Jermall Charlo is waiting for some of the world’s top 160 and 168 pounders to complete their upcoming fights so he can better identify his next foe.
The WBC middleweight champion Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) will especially be an interested observer this weekend when Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant fight for all of the belts and undisputed status at 168.
Alvarez and trainer-confidant Eddy Reynoso are keen on fighting Charlo in the future, and so is the Houston-based 31-year-old, who is contemplating on making a move to 168 for the right fight.
“Yeah, hopefully, whoever is the winner [of Canelo vs. Plant], hopefully we can make a mega-deal,” Charlo said on the PBC Podcast. “I’m looking for a mega-deal and extend my legacy. If one of those guys gives me the opportunity I’m definitely taking it.
“It’s going to be an interesting fight. We all know Canelo struggles with a little bit of movement off the jab. We'll see how he does in this fight. He's looking to try and knock out Plant. Plant uses his head movement and lateral movement pretty well and boxes off the back foot. We don't know what kind of Canelo we'll see. Let the best man win.”
In addition to the fight between Alvarez and Plant, a series of slugfests are set to ensue involving potential Charlo opponents. They are:
Nov. 13: Jaime Munguia vs. Gabriel Rosado (middleweight)
Nov. 13: David Benavidez vs. Kyrone Davis (super middleweight)
Nov. 19: WBO champion Demetrius Andrade vs. Jason Quigley (middleweight)
Dec. 29: IBF champion Gennadiy Golovkin vs. WBA champion Ryoto Murata (middleweight)
“Everyone that will be on the radar is fighting right now. We are going to let everything play out and figure out where to move from there,” said Charlo. “Me and my team are working together to put on a mega-fight … It’s been a quiet fall but we’ll definitely get it popping in the winter.”
“[Demetrius] Andrade has been talking, and [Gennadiy] Golovkin is about to unify, so maybe we can fight for all the belts or something like that. We’ll figure it out. [Golovkin] would be a mega-fight. If he wins his fight with Murata and unifies, then we can unify together. It’s a big fight. It’s a major fight.”
“I like [Benavidez’s] style. He's a young kid talking and never knows what he can get himself into. He's an unprofessional kid who lost his belt twice doing unprofessional things. He's been running his mouth. But talk is cheap.
“I talk s--- and back it up. I’m definitely pleased with my accomplishments and the things that I have done in boxing so far. I’m never underrated. I’m misunderstood.”
Charlo last fought in June and unanimously decisioned Juan Macias Montiel in Houston.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com
