Canelo Alvarez will face Jermall Charlo’s brother Jermell in September for the undisputed super middleweight championship in Las Vegas.
According to Chris Mannix, Jermall, the WBC 160-lb champion, is still dealing with personal issues that would prevent him from training properly to take the fight with Canelo on September 30th.
So instead of Jermall taking the fight, his smaller twin brother, Jermell, will move up two weight classes from 154 to battle Canelo for his undisputed 168-lb championship.
It’s unclear what the nature is of Jermall’s personal issues. Whatever it is that is troubling his mind, it’s too much of a problem for him to train properly to prepare to fight Canelo on September 30th.
Why not Benavidez or Morrell Jr?
In reacting to this news, the logical question is, why didn’t Canelo pick super middleweight David Benavidez or David Morrell Jr to fight, given that both fighters are free and no fights scheduled?
Firstly, Canelo and his management likely see Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) as the bigger money opportunity than facing Benavidez or Morrell.
Secondly, if Canelo is victorious over Jermell, the natural fight to make next is against his brother Jermall because it would have the revenge angle. Fans enjoy revenge-type fights, so they’ll gladly buy into seeing Canelo fight Jermall after he deals with the smaller Charlo, Jermerll.
Seeing it from a PPB perspective. They manage Jermell & Jermall, so it’s in their best interest to let both brothers fight Canelo while he’s signed with them for the short term with his three-fight deal.
The third fight of Canelo’s three-fight deal with PBC could be against Errol Spence Jr. He would move up from 154, which is where he’s heading after he completes his two fights with Terence Crawford.
“Alright, I’ll be Jermell Charlo, not Jermall, that challenges Canelo for the undisputed super middleweight championship in September. Here’s how that happened. It was supposed to be Jermall Charlo challenging Canelo in September,” said Chris Mannix to The Volume.
“Jermall is a 160-lb title holder moving up for that fight, but among the reasons for more than two years is significant personal issues going on in his life.
“His team decided, with those personal issues still lingering, that he would not be in the proper headspace to train for a fight of that magnitude. So he stepped out, and in stepped Jermell, the undisputed 154-lb champion who agreed to take that fight at 168.
“So we will have undisputed vs. undisputed, 154 against 168. Jermell Charlo, not Jermall, challenging Canelo Alvarez for supremacy at super middleweight.”