Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Jermall Charlo is the frontrunner for Canelo Alvarez’s next fight in September. Hearn states that attempts at putting a rematch together between Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) and WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol have failed, so the Mexican star is moving on.
WBC cruiserweight champion Badou Jack was briefly an option, but he rejected Canelo’s request to come down from the 200-lb limit to fight at a 180-lb catchweight with a rehydration clause. That idea wasn’t going to fly for Jack, who would have to lose 30 lbs from his 210-lb fighting weight to make the 180-lb catchweight, and then still have the rehydration clause to deal with after.
Jermall (32-0, 22 KOs) obviously hasn’t fought in two years, and it’s unclear what kind of physical condition he’ll be in after that much time out of the ring. He would need to come up to 168 to fight for Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight titles because the Mexican star won’t come down to 160.
Canelo-Charlo is more of a business-level fight than one that’s intended to have sporting value. Jermall looked horrendously bad in his last fight against Juan Macias Montiel two years ago in 2021, and it appears that boxing is no longer a priority for him at this stage of his life.
Some would argue that Jermall basically retired in the physical sense from the game but didn’t make it official. He’s clearly been missing in action, and he’s an ideal gimme opponent for Canelo to get a sure-thing win.
It’s clear that Canelo doesn’t wish to fight the lions at 168, David Benavidez & David Morrell Jr, because those guys would be risky for him. The way that Canelo has looked in his last three fights, he would have major problems against those two.
Eddie Hearn: “I think the [Jermall] Charlo fight is probably the frontrunner right now,” said Eddie Hearn to the DAZN Boxing Show on who Canelo Alvarez will likely be fighting next in September. “I spoke to Eddy [Reynoso] last week. Obviously, they wanted to fight Dmitry Bivol.
“We couldn’t get that one over the line just yet, so they’re [Canelo & Reynoso] looking at other options. You saw Badou Jack come out and say, ‘It’s not going to be me this time in September. I don’t think Saudis have a date for them in September either. It’s very fast to move at that pace,” said Hearn.
Akin Reyes: “Badou Jack said other things, Eddie. Can you please touch on what he said, saying that they [Canelo] want him to fight 20 pounds under the 200 pound limit and they want to drain him.”
Barak Bess: “A rehydration clause as well.”
Hearn: “I wasn’t involved in those discussions but Canelo’s a 168-pound fighter, so if he’s asked for 180 pounds, I don’t think that’s overly unreasonable. You can’t criticize Canelo for asking a cruiserweight, who used a box at super middleweight, to come down in weight five pounds over the light heavyweight [limit of 175 lbs to fight for Badou Jack’s WBC belt at cruiserweight, which has a limit of 200 lbs].
“You can’t just expect Saul to go, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight you at 200 pounds.’ I mean, he couldn’t even weigh more than 180 pounds, even if he tried. So, he would be giving up 20 pounds, probably 30 pounds in the ring. I know everyone loves to criticize Saul, but you can’t you can’t. It’s dangerous.
“He’s willing to step up to 175 to fight these guys like Bivol and Kovalev, but you can’t be stepping up to 200 or 190 or something. Actually, it shouldn’t be allowed, right?
“So, I think Charlo is the front-runner for September perhaps and we’re looking at other options for him for January and February as well.”
