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.
Jermall Charlo
Three of a Kind is a Winner
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.
Huge Photo Gallery: Lara Retains Title; Charlo Twins Make Boxing History
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.
Jermall Charlo defeats Austin Trout
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.
Showtime Triple Header Preview: It May Not Be A Hell Of A Card, But it’s Still Really Good
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”.
Video: Lara vs Martirosyan, Charlo vs Trout, Charlo vs Jackson Weigh-In
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
Liam Smith Predicts Lara-Martirosyan, Charlo-Trout, Charlo-Jackson
Liverpool’s WBO Super-Welterweight World Champion Liam Smith will be keeping a very close eye on this Saturday’s … continue
Jermall Charlo, Austin Trout Interview Transcript
Leonard Ellerbe – I would like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. We have an exciting tripleheader of Super Welterweight World Title fights. It will be headlined by Cuban sensation and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion, Erislandy Lara against exciting challenger and 2004 U.S. Olympian, Vanes Martirosyan in a rematch of their 2012 technical draw.
In our co-main event, and up-and-coming star, the IBF Junior Middleweight World Champion, Jermall Charlo taking on the toughest challenge of his career in former World Champion, Austin Trout.
Austin Trout takes on Jermall Charlo on 5/21
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 20, 2016) – Austin Trout (30-2, 17 KOs), the former super welterweight world champion, is ready to collect his second world title on Saturday, May 21 when he meets IBF Junior Middleweight world champion Jermall Charlo in a 12-round match live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) from The Chelsea, a one-of-a-kind 40,000-square-foot venue inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
“It’s my time,” said Trout. “My focus is amplified 10-fold. I’m the confident, happy Austin that fans know, but trust me, when it’s fight time I’m ready for any dogfight that comes. You’ll see Austin bring out and defeat the ‘Lion’ in him because at the end of the day I’m taking that belt.”
Charlo vs. Campfort & Spence vs. Barrera on 11/28
DALLAS (October 29, 2015) – Super welterweight world champion Jermall Charlo (22-0, 17 KOs) will defend his title in his home state against “Silky” Wilky Campfort (21-1, 12 KOs) as Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC comes to The Bomb Factory in Dallas Saturday, November 28. Televised coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.
Also featured, Dallas-native and 2012 Olympian Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. (18-0, 15 KOs) takes on Mexico’s Alejandro “El Elegido” Barrera (28-2, 18 KOs) in a 12-round contest.