Jermall Charlo says he has a better chance of fighting David Benavidez in 2023 than he does Canelo Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin.
With that said, Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) is in no hurry to fight the unbeaten former two-time WBC 168-lb champion Benavidez, even though they share the same management, fight on the same network, Showtime, and it would be an easy fight to make.
Charlo doesn’t say he doesn’t feel it’s the right time to fight Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs), but it could be because he’s in a holding pattern, waiting & hoping Canelo Alvarez will look his way and give him a shot next year.
Canelo may not choose to fight Jermall next year, which will leave Charlo stuck continuing to fight lesser fighters that boxing fans have never heard of and have no interest in seeing.
“Nothing ever happened with Munguia. I just never got a chance to deliver that contract, and he never got a chance to deliver his to me, so we never fought. There was never much talk about a fight with Munguia,” said Jermall Charlo to Showtime Sports, when asked why he didn’t fight Jaime Munguia.
“GGG, on the other hand, he’s been at 160, he was a monster at 160. I guess he’s moving up to 168 to try and fight Canelo. I’m getting overlooked right now in the division,” said Jermall. “It’s not me, y’all.
“I’m the 160-pound champion. Where are all the other belts at? I want all the belts in the division like my brother. I want to be able to unify and become one of the best middleweights to go down in history,” said Jermall when asked why he doesn’t move up to 168 by this late stage in his career, given his huge size for the weight class.
“No one is at fault. We both have the same handlers,” said Jermall when asked why he’s not fighting David Benavidez. “When it makes sense, it’ll happen. Fans, be patient. I want the fight, so the fight is going to happen.
“Canelo says I have nothing to offer him. I got a couple of fans that want to see the fight. The world wants to see it. He just lost to Bivol. You want a tune-up? He turned down fifty million dollars. It is what it is. I just knew it was going to happen.
“I’m like, ‘Yes, we’re going to get that fight.’ I ran around my mansion, going crazy. ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’ He turned the fight down.
“I say, ‘Benavidez,'” said Jermall when asked what is the more realistic fight to happen for him in 2023 between Canelo, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Benavidez.
“I’d say we’re a lot closer to [fighting] Benavidez because he’s running his mouth. I’m in Southern Cali right now and I don’t see him.
“On paper, yeah,” said Jermall when asked if his twin brother Jermell is the best of the Charlo brothers.
“We accepted it [the petition]. What happened to Andrade?” said Jermall when asked why he didn’t fight Demetrius Andrade after he petitioned the WBC last November to make him the mandatory for Charlo at 160. “He left our division, right?
“He threw away his belt. The dude has no pride. He was supposed to fight my brother at 154, and he canceled that fight too. We’re not going to keep giving you all these opportunities and you’re not taking them.
“Everybody else wants them. I’ll fight anybody, I’m a fighter. As long as it makes sense. He’s going through management trouble or something like that. I don’t know what’s up with him.
“Whoever is handling his career, need their a** whooped. It makes boxing great,” said Jermall when asked if he gets irritated by the trolls on Twitter. “They either hate you or love you. It’s more love than it is hate.”
