Jermall Charlo desafía a Canelo Álvarez: ¿Se acerca por fin la pelea más esperada del boxeo? Jermall Charlo rompe el silencio y revela por qué el momento no era el adecuado en 2023 para enfrentar a Canelo Álvarez. Ahora, con su mente renovada, lanza un desafío directo al campeón mexicano y promete un combate que podría cambiar la historia del boxeo. ¿Aceptará Canelo el reto definitivo?
Jermall Charlo Wants To Revisit Canelo Alvarez Fight; Says Time Wasn’t Right For 2023 Bout
With Caleb Plant probably eliminated as a potential opponent for his next fight, Jermall Charlo called out another contemporary he has wanted to fight for many years.
Now that he is in a better place mentally, Charlo believes the time is right for him to finally fight Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican icon wanted to defend his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound championships against Charlo two years ago.
The former WBC middleweight champ was dealing with personal problems at that time, though, which led to his twin brother, Jermell Charlo, accepting a shot at Alvarez’s titles instead. Jermell moved up two weight classes – from junior middleweight to super middleweight – for a 12-round championship bout that wasn’t the least bit competitive in September 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Alvarez could’ve fought Jermall Charlo earlier than 2023. The WBC created its franchise champion designation in June 2019, which allowed Alvarez to retain a portion of its middleweight title rather than facing Jermall, who was elevated from interim champ to the status of full world champion at that time.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez (63-2-2, 29 KOs) is scheduled to face fellow four-division champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) on September 13 at a venue to be determined. If the slightly favored Alvarez emerges victorious, Charlo would welcome that long-elusive showdown whenever Alvarez returns to the ring, presumably in May 2026.
Houston’s Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) discussed Alvarez as a possible opponent during his post-fight press conference Saturday night in Las Vegas.
A couple hours earlier, he dropped huge underdog Thomas LaManna three times on his way to stopping LaManna (39-6-1, 18 KOs) one second into the sixth round at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Charlo expected his dominant win to lead to a fight with Plant (23-3, 14 KOs), but the former IBF super middleweight champion was upset by Mexican underdog Armando Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs) in the 12-round main event Saturday night.
“To be honest wit’ you,” Charlo said, “at this moment I think the best move for my career, I’m 35, you know, time is wasting, you know, whatever y’all wanna call it. I’m still having fun in the sport. I still got a lot more fights to go. I think that I should just keep fighting and hopefully I can get the Canelo fight. I mean, wouldn’t y’all wanna see that? I’d rather fight Canelo than Plant at this point.”
When asked by The Ring’s Manouk Akopyan why he deserves a shot at Alvarez after winning one tune-up fight in the super middleweight division, Charlo contended that timing trumps everything.
“I was ready,” Charlo said of being presented with the Alvarez fight early in the summer of 2023. “It just wasn’t the time, it’s all about the time. That’s what we talk about, right? Look, I’m not trippin’ on the Canelo fight. If it happens, it happens, if it don’t, it don’t. At 168, I wanna become a world champion at 168 for myself, my legacy, my kids. Other than that, I’m just lettin’ it flow. I just wanna be great and, you know, go down in history as one of the greats that ever did it.
“And I wanna fight Canelo, Plant. I wanna take those big fights if they are there. If they’re not, then what am I supposed to do, just keep waitin’? No. It’s not more time to wait. I’ve gotta fight these fights but one thing Imma do is stay loyal to TGB [Promotions], Al Haymon, everyone who stayed loyal to me, Imma stay loyal to them. So, it is what it is.”
Alvarez, who turns 35 on July 18, will have two fights left on his four-fight deal with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season after he encounters Crawford. Several fighters affiliated with Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions have competed on Riyadh Season cards since Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority started financing fights consistently late in 2023.
An Alvarez-Charlo clash would’ve been easier to put together, however, when Alvarez and Charlo were both aligned with PBC.
