New Year’s Resolution: Jermall Charlo Edition
By Eddie Sanchez
Closing out 2020, The Bad Promoter will publish a few New Year’s Resolutions for some of our most prominent combat sports friends. The sixth and final of this series is Jermall Charlo, the reigning WBC Middleweight Champion, and former IBF Junior Middleweight Champion.
Jermall Charlo is a bad man! The uber talented Middleweight is entering 2021 coming off of the biggest win of his career against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
As a two weight world champion, coming off the biggest win of his career, you wouldn’t expect many complaints. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case when you consider that there are two talented guys in his class that many want to see him face – especially one who is practically begging for a big fight. Of course, there are also two other men a weight class higher that might be even more intriguing. The four men I am referring to are of course Gennadiy Golovkin, Demetrius Andrade, Caleb Plant and Canelo Alvarez.
As much as I would like to see Charlo face Andrade or Golovkin, let’s quickly dismiss them from the equation. Golovkin has other business to take care of. He is rumored to be negotiating with Jaime Munguia for May 2021, which he hopes will lead him to the coveted trilogy fight with Canelo Alvarez.
As for Andrade, he should focus more on being active. He has only faced ten opponents in the past seven years. Given his reluctance to remain active (whether his fault completely or not), I am willing to look past him as an opponent for Charlo at this time.
Process of elimination would leave Caleb Plant and Canelo Alvarez left over, with Canelo being the man that everyone would love to face. Our New Year’s Resolution for Jermall Charlo is to put himself in a position where Canelo Alvarez would have to accept him as an opponent.
2021 is looking like it’s going to be a big year for boxing. There are many high profile fights rumored for the year, and only so much time for them to happen. With Canelo Alvarez likely having his schedule booked until May with Anvi Yildirim and Billy Joe Saunders, men like Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo will have to put themselves in a position for Canelo to choose them over a lucrative third bout with GGG for September.
Caleb Plant of course holds the IBF Super Middleweight title, so he is in a position of strength in regards to negotiations for that superfight. Given the shelf life of a potential trilogy between Canelo and GGG coming to a close, this can provide the opening necessary for Jermall Charlo to force a bout with Caleb Plant.
Charlo is already viewed as a large Middleweight. His physical dominance and boxing skills have led him to a perfect 31-0 record. Given that he would most like to face Canelo, it may be in his best interest to move up to Super Middleweight and strengthen his case.
Fortunately for him, there are some quality opponents readily available for him to choose from as he enters the new weight class. Some of these options include PBC stablemates like Alfredo Angulo, J’Leon Love and the Dirrell brothers. Either of these men would be nice introductions to the higher weight and could set him up nicely for a PPV with Caleb Plant.
Both Plant and Charlo could find themselves looking for high profile bouts come Fall 2021 if Canelo opts for the GGG trilogy, and there would be a perfect opportunity for them to face each other. While one could argue that Plant could simply wait a few more months for a bout with Canelo, nothing is guaranteed.
Canelo has won three out of the four major belts in the Junior Middleweight and Middleweight divisions prior, and both times opted against a full unification (although outside factors played their role in these decisions as well). Canelo could very easily do the same at the Super Middleweight division, and move on to fights against non-belt holders, or even go back to the Light Heavyweight division.
Safe money would still see Caleb Plant taking soft-ball opponents as he waits for the opportunity to face Canelo for a full unification of the division, which would of course take the opportunity away from Charlo. However, there are other opportunities for Charlo to strengthen his case as a non-belt holder.
There is another PBC Super Middleweight that is itching for a big fight at the moment. David Benavidez, the former WBC Super Middleweight champ, who twice has found himself overweight at the scales, is looking to make a statement so Canelo would have to choose him as well.
If we find ourselves in 2021 with Canelo-GGG booked and Caleb Plant looking towards easier title defenses, there is a prime opportunity for PBC to host a Charlo-Benavidez PPV match. Although there would be no belt involved, this fight would arguably be bigger than a Charlo-Plant bout.
If Charlo takes on Benavidez as an opponent and beats him, then the world would not just be asking for a Canelo-Charlo PPV, they would expect it. This is the type of year that Charlo needs to have. He needs to put himself in a position where there are no other options, but him for a PPV extravaganza.
He has been criticized in the past for not taking on the biggest challenges out there, but if he takes that fight, when a guy like Caleb Plant, in our hypothetical situation is basically sitting idle, then the public’s opinion of him would be forever changed and his star power would be at an all time high.
Canelo Alvarez has enjoyed his time fighting on DAZN, and if the noise within the industry is true, then it is extremely likely that his next three fights will be Yildirim, Saunders and GGG – with all being showcased on the streaming platform.
Deep inside however, I am sure he is itching for the perfect opportunity to return to the PPV market. After all, this was Mayweather’s bread-and-butter for how he made the majority of his money. A reintroduction to the PPV market can be a fruitful one, but only if the perfect opportunity presents itself.
A Canelo-Plant PPV would be a nice seller. Given his star power, he could expect big numbers. A Canelo-Charlo PPV though, that would be massive.
Our New Year’s Resolution for Jermall Charlo is for him to take the next step in his career. It’s time for him to move on to a new weight and take on a challenge that could set himself up for the super fight he craves.
After a Super Middleweight introduction, let’s see a Charlo-Benavidez PPV. This type of challenge is the type of risk that Canelo would notice and appreciate, and there is no doubt in my mind that if he is successful in that challenge, then we will find ourselves at the end of 2021 promoting a Canelo-Charlo super fight.
