Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) revealed on Friday that he’ll be coming off a 20-month layoff to make a defense of his WBC middleweight title in February.
Charlo’s popularity has taken a massive hit with his inactivity in the last three years. Since being elevated to WBC middleweight champion status outside of the ring [read: email champion], Charlo has defended his belt just four times in the last three years.
Some fans believe that Jermall has been enjoying the fruits of his labor a little too much outside of the ring, living the good life in his mansion in Houston, Texas, and not willing to get back to the grindstone to continue defending his WBC title against the talented contenders like Carlos Adames, Jaime Munguia, and Chris Eubank Jr.
It’s no secret that Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) is waiting for his title shot against Jermall. He’s now the interim WBC 160-lb champion, poised to take the belt outside of the ring if Charlo doesn’t get back in action soon.
“I’m just checking in. I’ll be back soon,” said Jermall Charlo on social media on Friday. “I’ll be back in February. Maybe January. Nah, February.
“I got to have someone come over here and teach me how to run Instagram. That’s why I’ve been inactive,” said Jermall. “I’ll give y’all February. In February, I’ll be back. Be ready. Keep it locked,” said Jermall.
Earlier this year, Jermall was supposed to defend his WBC title against #6 Maciej Sulecki, but then the fight failed to happen. Since then, nothing has been hurt about ‘The Future of Boxing’ Charlo until last Friday when he took to social media to let his fans know he’ll be returning to the ring in February.
Surprisingly, the World Boxing Council hasn’t moved to demote the inactive Jermall Charlo to emeritus champion or outright strip him for his inactivity because it’s not fair to the contenders that have had to wait for their turn for a title shot.
Normally, the WBC assigns the emeritus tag to champions that are injured, and they’ll strip them if they simply sit on their belts, choosing to enjoy their status as a belt holder without defending it.
The 32-year-old Charlo has been inactive since his tougher-than-expected successful title defense in June 2021 against fringe contender Juan Macias Montiel on Showtime in Houston, Texas.