Jermall Charlo says he’s training with Roy Jones Jr, getting ready to return to the ring to defend his WBC middleweight title for the first time in 2 1/2 years against an opponent still to be determined, and then after that, he’ll face Canelo Alvarez.
Jermall isn’t saying whether he’ll defend against his WBC mandatory Carlos Adames in his first fight back. That will be up to the Worrld Boxing Council if they want to force Jermall to take that fight or strip him.
Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) estimates that he’s 75 to 80% of where he was physically before he started his long layoff in July 2021. Unlike WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who is grossly obese after nine months of inactivity, Jermall looks lean, like he’s close to his fighting weight.
The only noticeable difference is the tired look on Jermall’s face, like he’s gone through a lot in the last 2+ years. That’ll go away once he begins camp and gets out in the sun for running.
Charlo says he thinks he’ll be able to get a fight against Canelo Alvarez after his fight later this year. We’ll see if that plays out or not, but it would be great for Jermall if he can still get that mega-fight opportunity.
“Yeah, I’ll go right back into a title defense. I have a belt, and get some top competition and someone that will stand up and fight,” said Jermall Charlo to Robert Newman, who asked if he’ll go into a title defense of his WBC middleweight belt when he returns to the ring later this year.
“I’m here to fight the best. I’ve never dodged no fighter. Even though I’ve taken this time away from the ring, I’ve still been actively been training. I just haven’t fought.
“I’m still here, baby. I went through a real war. I’m back. So, I get a chance to entertain y’all soon. I had to deal with injuries. I had to deal with the time away. I had to deal with.
“It was a few things that offset me a little bit, but not to the point where I didn’t feel like ‘I’m the champ of the world.’ Then on top of that, we took time to schedule the Canelo fight, which didn’t happen.
“I’m letting my brother go ahead and seize that moment. I’ll fight him [Canelo Alvarez] next or whatever the situation is. I had a lot going on. I’m not trying to make it seem like everything is all good now, but I had a lot going on with family-wise personal issues.
“I’m a lot better now. I had to tighten up and get it done. I’m physically almost back to where I was. I’m definitely closing in on that 70, 80%. I’m real close to feeling better. I’m in a better space. It took me time to get better to get away from the people I was around.
“It happens to the best of us. I didn’t think it would happen to me. People that don’t mean nothing for you. I just had to get away from them. I just started focusing on me. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about.
“I’m still successful with what I’ve done in boxing. It’s lit my fire back. I’m hungry now, ready to show the world that I’m still the champ and ready to give the fans the best fight I have left in me.
“I haven’t really talked to my brother at all. Me and my brother don’t speak like I was trying to tell you,” said Jermall when asked how he thinks his twin Jermell will do against Canelo Alvarez on September 30th.
“You go your way and go in different directions. He’s not so happy with me being who I am and going through the things that I had to go through. Hopefully, it didn’t bother him at all, but I wish him the best, and hopefully, he seizes the moment. He’s going up two divisions, daring to be great. To each his own.
“I think he’s still great,” said Jermall when asked if Errol Spence Jr. was affected by the two car crashes. “He wants the rematch [with Terence Crawford]. That’s going to happen. It’s boxing.”
