WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) started training today with coach Ronnie Shields in Houston, Texas, for his long-awaited comeback.
The 32-year-old Charlo looked sharp, hitting the mitts with authority while WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell looked on.
Charlo’s punches sounded powerful, hitting the mitts, and it looked like he should be ready to go soon. What Charlo has going for him is he didn’t gain a lot of weight during his time out of the ring, so he doesn’t need to worry about trimming off the fat.
If Jermall moves up to 168, he’ll need to add more bulk because right now, he appears to have lost a lot of muscle mass due to atrophy from not training.
To compete with the elite-level fighters at super middleweight, Charlo will need more size, and he’ll have to be dedicated.
This means no more long layoffs like we just saw from him. He’s not young enough to sit idle for long stretches without hurting his career. It will be VERY hard for Charlo to return and regain the form he once had.
He’s been out of the ring for too long, and the chances are high that he’ll continue to have inactivity problems. Fighting once a year like his twin brother Jermell Charlo isn’t going to get it at 168. It might work at 160 because that’s a weak division, but not 168.
It’s unclear why Charlo chose to stay out of the ring for the last two years. There are rumors that Jermall has a drinking problem and a back issue. Whether either of these things is true is anyone’s guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiWmCwRn460&t=82s
The question fans have is why they didn’t the WBC strip him of his middleweight title. The sanctioning body typically gives their inactive champions the emeritus tag, which frees up their belt so that other contenders can fight over it and keep it in play until the previous champ returns to the ring.
All you can say is that Charlo is well-liked by the WBC for them to have allowed him to sit on their belt for two years.
Jermall last saw action in June 2021, successfully defending his WBC middleweight title with a victory over Juan Macias Montiel in Houston.
If Jermall elects to keep his WBC 160-lb belt, it’ll be interesting to see if the World Boxing Council orders him to defend against his mandatory Carlos Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) or if they allow him to make a voluntary defense due to the two years of inactivity.
The future for Charlo awaits him at 168, as that’s where all the big fights are available for him against these fighters:
- Canelo Alvarez
- David Benavidez
- Caleb Plant
- David Morrell Jr
- Demetrius Andrade
If Charlo does move up to 168 immediately, Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) would be a good option for him because he’s up there in age at 35, and he’s been dealing with the same inactivity problems.