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Undefeated WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo extended his winning streak to 33-0 and sent a challenge to Saul Canelo Alvarez to fight. Jermall Charlo remains confident he can drop to the division’s weight limit of 72.5 kilograms, even though he came in 3.5 kilograms above his contracted weight of 73.9 kilograms in his 10-round unanimous decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. on Saturday evening at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Houston native Charlo sees his mandatory challenger, Carlos Adames, and IBF/WBO champion Janibek Alimkhanuly as interesting opponents in the middleweight clash. But he is clearly very interested in remaining a super middleweight and challenging the undisputed champion, Saul Canelo Alvarez.
The Mexican superstar could consider Jermall Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) as his opponent in the match which will take place on May 4. Fans and media are eager for Saul Canelo Alvarez to defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against David Benavidez.
However, Saul Canelo Alvarez has never stated publicly that he is interested in fighting David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs). Phoenix native Benavidez stopped Demetrius Andrade (32-1, 19 KOs), a southpaw from Providence, Rhode Island, after the sixth round in their main event on Showtime Pay-Per-View on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old Benavidez returns to challenge Canelo, but Charlo has previously welcomed the biggest and most profitable fight he can get before Benavidez arrives at their training ground. “Vote for me,” Charlo said when asked if he had a message for Saul Canelo Alvarez.
“Yeah, I know you guys have seen him fight my twin, but that was a different twin. You know, I’m not criticizing anything my brother did. He dared to be great, moving up two weight classes to fight Canelo. You know, in general “technically, it was my time to shine, but you know, I wouldn’t have felt as good going into that fight, as I did tonight,” he continued.
“I mean, you know, I don’t say anything about Benavidez and compare the two, but you know, Canelo is at a much higher level than Benavidez. So, I think that fight will bring me up. I’m really unmotivated by this fight, but I managed to finish it, you know?”
Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) was the undisputed 69.8kg boxing world champion when he agreed to move up two weight classes to challenge Saul Canelo Alvarez. A cautious Charlo lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs), who dropped him in the seventh round and won by huge margins on all three scorecards (119-108, 118-109, 118-109) on September 30 at T-Mobile Arena.
The fight became available to Jermell Charlo because Jermall Charlo wasn’t in the right shape in June to accept that type of high-profile, challenging fight. Jermall Charlo, who has been open about his mental health issues, has finally agreed to fight Benavidez Jr (28-3-1, 19 KOs) in Charlo’s first fight in 29 months.
If Canelo is not interested in defending his title against David Benavidez in his first fight in 2024, Premier Boxing Champions founder Al Haymon could match Canelo with Jermall Charlo and sell their pay-per-view fight as Jermall looks to avenge his brother’s loss. Jermall Charlo admitted Saturday night that his estranged brother hasn’t returned his phone calls since Jermall attended Jermell’s fight against Canelo Alvarez nearly two months ago.
(aww)