By Lem Satterfield
WBC 154-pound titleholder Jermell Charlo won’t fight his WBC 160-pound interim champion twin brother in the future, or, likely ever for any amount of money, the younger-by-a-minute twin said on Saturday’s initial episode of “PBC Face-to-Face” on FOX.
“Right now, in our prime, I’m not fighting my brother. Period. I wouldn’t’ take a dollar. This is not tennis. We cannot play against each other. In this sport…He’s an animal. As a big brother, he taught me to be an animal, and I like that,” said Jermell, 28.
“But right now, I couldn’t see myself punching him. I couldn’t let his kids watch me punch him. I don’t want my son to see his Dad punching his uncle. It’s not there no more. That fighting spirit is not there no more. Not even in sparring. I wanna spar you though. Maybe I’ll spar you, though, for a few million.”
“The Iron Man” Jermell (31-0, 15 KOs) is after his fourth defense and fifth knockout in six fights against Tony Harrison (27-2, 21 KOs), and “The Hit Man” Jermall (27-0, 21 KOs), his first defense, fourth straight stoppage and 20th knockout in his past 22 fights against Russian southpaw Matt Korobov (28-1, 14 KOs) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Saturday on FOX (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
Saturday will be the first time the Houston, Texas-born siblings will have fought on the same card, back-to-back, since their history-making night in May 2016, when Jermell came from behind for a title-winning eighth-round stoppage of John Jackson at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, a feat preceding Jermall’s unanimous decision over left-handed former champion Austin Trout in his second of three IBF 154-pound title defenses.
In winning the vacated world title, Jermell joined Jermall as a junior middleweight champion two days after celebrating their 26th birthday.
