Jermall Charlo dropped Williams three times, once in the second and twice in the fifth. Williams, who had not lost a round in 10 consecutive fights, went down for the first time in his career from a strong counter left-hand midway through the second round.
Williams, who established his counter right early, performed well for the next two rounds in the first title fight between undefeated 154-pound champions since Floyd Mayweather dismantled Canelo Alvarez in 2013.
Prime and ready for battle, unbeaten junior middleweight’s Jermall Charlo and Julian Williams Jr. clash for one of the top spots at the division. Charlo is more experienced as a pro and Julian with a tad more potential. The process of splitting hairs is needed when attempting to separate who will be victorious this Saturday night.
Turning the page is what 2016 was supposed to be about for the many fighters waiting in line to become the next Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Or at least make a name as the new kids on the block at several weight classes that include featherweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight. Saturday’s co-feature bout will mark the 5th, 154-pound match made on Showtime of the year.
Four of the top trainers in the sport, Freddie Roach, Robert Garcia, Ronnie Shields and Stephen Edwards met with media in Los Angeles to discuss their fighters’ respective showdowns this Saturday, December 10 from Galen Center at USC and live on SHOWTIME®.
Saturday’s event is headlined by featherweight world champion Jesus Cuellar defending against former three-division world champion Abner Mares in a long-awaited showdown. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® telecast begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with junior middleweight world champion Jermall Charlo and top-rated challenger Julian Williams in a world championship battle of undefeated rising stars in their prime.
Richard Schaefer
Thank you very much. And thank you to all the media to be on today’s call. I’m really excited. My first boxing conference call after almost three years out of the sport. So, I’m really excited to be at it again.
And what better way to do it than with a double header like this? It’s rare enough to have a match up like Jesus Cuellar versus Abner Mares, which has fight of the year written all over it.
On May 21, three of the four world championships in the hot junior middleweight division were contested as Erislandy Lara defended his WBA title with a unanimous decision over Vanes Martirosyan; Jermall Charlo defended his IBF title with a unanimous decision over former champion Austin Trout and Jermell Charlo scored a come-from-behind stoppage over John Jackson to capture the WBC belt.
Saturday night the Charlo brothers and Erislandy Lara paraded their talents for all to see at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas, NV. Their fights begged for attention. After all, they were being displayed by Showtime as three of the best junior middleweights in boxing, and they were facing very tough opponents.
Jermell was first, and there were serious doubts about whether he was going to measure up. John “Dah Rock” Jackson, (20-3-0, 15KO) son of fearsome puncher Julian Jackson, surprised Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (28-0-0, 12KO) by boxing instead of slugging.
On a night Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara successfully defended his WBA Super Welterweight Championship with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan, undefeated brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo, of Houston, became the first twins in boxing history to hold world titles in the same weight class.
Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) retained his IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over former world champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) of Las Cruces, N.M., in the second of three world title fights on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
IBF junior middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) was fortunate to hold onto his IBF title tonight in his title defense against challenger Austin Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charlo, 26, won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 115-113, 116-112, 116-112.
The fight was close enough to be scored a draw. Charlo fell apart in the second half of the contest in tiring out and getting basically swept by Trout in the last five rounds. Trout fought well enough to win the 1st round. If you do the math, Trout should have been given a draw. However, he was the B-side in this fight and Charlo the A-side. For Trout to have won the fight, he would have needed to really give Charlo a pounding rather than fighting him to a standstill like he did tonight.
One of the best known quotes in A.J. Liebling’s immortal “The Sweet Science” concerned a tough, tricky welterweight contender from the 1950’s named Billy Graham, whom he famously described as being “as good a fighter as one possibly can be without being a hell of a fighter.”
These words have resonated with me ever since I first read them, for they serve as the perfect way to characterize those boxers who lack any one outstanding attribute yet are still capable of achieving success in the ring. For me, those are the fighters who are most compelling. It always intrigues me to watch fighters who rely upon their intangibles like grit, guile, and ring generalship to win fights; and it always captures my attention when these types of boxers are pitted against those who are talented enough to be considered “a hell of a fighter”.
Erislandy Lara – 153 ½ Pounds
Vanes Martirosyan – 153 ¾ Pounds
Jermall Charlo – 153 ¼ Pounds
Austin Trout – 154 Pounds
Jermell Charlo – 153 ¾ Pounds
John Jackson – 153 ½ Pounds