By Keith Idec
Jermell Charlo is looking forward to silencing skeptics that continually criticize the level of competition he and his twin brother, Jermall, have faced.
Jermell Charlo addressed what he considers an irritating issue Thursday during an open workout in Century City, California. Jermell Charlo is scheduled to defend his WBC super welterweight title against Austin Trout on June 9 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The Houston native began by discussing his brother’s potential shot at undefeated middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
“I don’t think that whenever the WBC reaches out about a fight that they’re doing it just to play around,” Jermell Charlo said. “This sport is serious. We would love to be a part of a GGG fight. We’re tired of hearing the media say to put the Charlos in there with better competition. I’ve heard that every fight. As long as I’m winning fights and I’m entertaining the fans, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Jermell Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) has recorded spectacular knockouts in each of his last two fights.
He beat up Charles Hatley before knocking him unconscious in the sixth round of their April 2017 bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Charlo returned to Barclays Center to knock out previously unbeaten Erickson Lubin with one punch in the first round of their October 14 fight.
Charlo’s fights against Dallas’ Hatley (27-2-1, 19 KOs) and Lubin (19-1, 14 KOs), of Orlando, Florida, were ordered by the WBC. In the bout before he beat Hatley, Jermell Charlo came back from the same deficit on all three scorecards (69-64) and knocked out John Jackson (21-3, 16 KOs) in the eighth round to win the then-vacant WBC 154-pound title.
If the favored Jermell Charlo defeats Trout, he is expected to take on IBF/IBO/WBA champ Jarrett Hurd (22-0, 15 KOs) in a 154-pound title unification fight later this year.
Jermall Charlo (27-0, 21 KOs) has knocked out each of his two opponents since giving up his IBF junior middleweight title and moving up to middleweight.
He stopped hobbled Argentinean Jorge Heiland (29-5-2, 16 KOs) in the fourth round of a WBC elimination match July 29 at Barclays Center. Most recently, he knocked out Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-2, 14 KOs, 1 NC) in the second round April 21 to win the WBC’s interim middleweight title.
Those two fights also were mandated by the WBC.
Jermall Charlo is the mandatory challenger for Golovkin’s WBC middleweight title. Jermell Charlo referred to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman stating earlier this week that Golovkin must face Jermall Charlo next if stalled negotiations for Golovkin’s lucrative pay-per-view rematch with Canelo Alvarez fall apart.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
