Tim Bradley feels that 154-lb undisputed champion Jermell Charlo is out of his league, moving up to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed championship on September 30th.
Bradley is calling it a “mismatch” in favor of Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs), as thinks that Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs), who has been hurt by fighters at 154, will have problems with Alvarez’s power.
Tim brings up the fact that Canelo has fought at 175 twice, beating former unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and losing to WBA champ Dmitry Bivol. Bradley thinks that Jermell won’t be able to hurt Canelo with his shots.
Jermell has clarified that his focus isn’t to try knocking Canelo out. He intends on boxing him and winning a decision. It would be crazy for Jermell to try and knock out Canelo because he’s taken shots from bigger punchers than him, like Gennadiy Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Bivol, and Kovalev.
What Canelo did in the past against those fighters is irrelevant because he’s aged and isn’t the same fighter he once was. The 2018 & 2019 version of Canelo that beat Golovkin & Kovalev is gone.
What’s left is the Canelo we witnessed losing to Bivol and laboring against 41-year-old Golovkin and John Ryder.
Bradley should have brought up the possibility that Jermell could get robbed by the judges if he doesn’t make it embarrassingly one-sided like Bivol did last year.
As one-sided as that fight was, the three judges that worked the contest had Bivol barely winning, scoring it 115-113 x 3. The fight looked like a 10-2 win for Bivol, and that was being generous to Canelo.
“That’s a mismatch. How will you go up two weight classes?” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype about the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermlell Charlo fight being a mismatch in favor of the Mexican star.
“You’ve [Jermell] been hurt by guys at 154, and you’re going to go up two weight classes? Do you think he’ll be able to take a punch from a bigger guy?
“Anybody that says, ‘Oh, he’s 6’0,” y’all tripping. You’re not just talking about height. No, we’re talking about boxing. That’s what we’re talking about. It’s different.
“We’re talking about boxing. He’s [Canelo] fought at 175. Understand that. Canelo Alvarez fought at 175 against big huge dudes. It was Kovalev. He’s a freaking monster.
“I don’t give a damn. Kovalev can still punch. His timing and quickness make his s**t so hard, and he’s heavy-handed, and Canelo was able to take his punch. Don’t you think Canelo can take Charlo’s punches at 154? Man, this is terrible,” said Bradley.
