Via Matt Lieberman: Jermell Charlo praised Canelo Alvarez, calling him a “true champion” after the superstar’s loss to 175-lb WBA champion Dmitry Bivol last Saturday night.
Unified junior middleweight champion Jermell says you can’t blame Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) for going up to light heavyweight and beating the undefeated Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) in a cross-match. across his weight class.
Canelo took his chance by competing against one of the best fighters in the 175-lb class in Bivol, and it was an overkill for him.
Despite the size advantage, Bivol only nearly overtook Canelo by unanimous decision in 12 innings, winning 115-113, 115-113 and 115-113 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Vegas, Nevada. It doesn’t matter whether fans agree with those scores or not.
The judges are the ones who score the matches, so you have to respect how they judge the competition.
Charlo says he wants his twin Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) to get a chance against Canelo. There’s a chance Canelo could face Jermall next year, as long as he isn’t discouraged by a possible second loss to Bivol.
According to promoter Eddie Hearn, Canelo wants a rematch with Bivol at 175, and it will be a tough one for him to try and win.
Jermell reacts to Canelo .’s loss
“You can’t fault him; he is a true champion for trying to achieve important things in this sport,” Charlo said of Canelo’s loss to Dmitry Bivol last Saturday night.
“If everyone wants to be unbeaten and that’s all that matters to them, great. But Canelo, he’s a real champion.”
It was a brave move for Canelo to go up to 175 to challenge Bivol for his WBA belt.
We don’t know what Canelo was thinking when he opted to make this move, as he struggled to move up to 175th in 2019 to face WBO champion Sergey Kovalev for his belt. Kovalev was 36 years old at that time.
Jermell hopes his brother will fight Canelo
“No, I’m 154. I don’t have a choice against Canelo right now,” Jermell Charlo told media on Wednesday when asked if he would be interested in playing against Canelo Alvarez.
“I have to focus on trying to win titles right now. My brother [Jermall] want that; That’s my brother’s job,” said Jermell of his brother WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo wanting to take on Canelo Alvarez in 2023.
“I’ll let my brother handle that [fight Canelo]. If I end up getting bigger in size and mass, and I try to consider the best of those weights. The next thing for me is 160.
“I’m going to make some changes, but this will still be Jermell Charlo,” Jermell said of this Saturday night’s fight with Brian Castano.
IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) and undefeated WBO champion Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) play this Saturday, May 14. 5 to win the undisputed 154-lb championship on Showtime at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
