Trainer Andre Rozier believes Jermall Charlo’s two years of inactivity is too much time out of the ring for him to defeat Canelo Alvarez in September in their yet-to-be-announced fight on Showtime PPV.
Rozier feels that Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) has excellent skills and can do it all when he’s in top form, but he’s been out of the ring for too long. WBC middleweight champion Jermall has been sitting out of action because of personal problems.
Presumably, he’s taken care of those issues and will be 100% mentally & physically ready to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight championship.
If this is a brand new Jermall, Canelo could be in deep trouble on September 16th, because he more than matches up with the Mexican star when he’s firing on all eight cylinders.
Jermall looked outstanding in his victory over Sergiy Derevyanchnko in September. However, when Jermall came back nine months later against Juan Macias Montiel in June 2021, he looked like an entirely different fighter, struggling against a guy that he should have been able to blow out.
Since that fight, Charlo has been missing in action, and he’s wasted a lot of time that he could have utilized to make big money against a number of popular fighters.
It’s entirely possible for Jermall to pull it together with a strong training camp and come in and beat Canelo, but he’s going to need to be well-conditioned and mentally right for him to do that.
“Jermall is a fantastic fighter. I happen to like Jermall a lot,” said trainer Andre Rozier to Fighthype. “A lot of people don’t like him because of his attitude, but he’s really been improving and maturing and acting like he’s supposed to act as a professional
athlete.
“He can fight, he’s a great boxer, and he has a fantastic jab. Their [Charlo brothers] basics are off the wall. The twins make the basics look like something special. Jab, right hand, left foot. Jab, right hand, shoot to the body, and short uppercut.
“Their Basics are incredible, but two years is a long time. It’s a long time to just come back and jump into the Atlantic Ocean at its deepest point,” said Rozier.
Rozier isn’t considering how worn out Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) has looked in his last three fights beginning with his loss to Dmitry Bivol in 2022.
“I would say it would be very risky for Jermall, but I respect his gangster. He wants to give it a shot. He has all the tools. He’s a two-time, two-division world champion.
“He has the accolades to do it. If he feels he can come out of a two-year layoff and contend with Canelo, I give him all the props in the world. Let’s see what happens. It’s going to be tough, though.
“No, the Chalo boys are tough,” said Rozier when asked if he thinks Canelo will knockout Jermall on September 16th. “They’re those Texas corn-fed, beef-eating boys. They’re strong, tenacious and they have very, very mean ring attitudes. So, I don’t think that’s going to happen.
