Jermall Charlo still hopes to face Canelo Alvarez before hanging up the gloves, but his sporadic appearances in the ring make that goal tough to sell. Facing Koen Mazoudier gets him moving again, yet it does nothing to prove he belongs among the elite at 168 pounds.
“I do want to fight Canelo before it’s all said and done, but I’m not going to be a Canelo chaser. Who knows, man,” Charlo told Fight Hub TV.
Now 36, Jermall is running out of road. Having laced up the gloves just three times since 2021, he steps into the ring on October 17 following a 17-month layoff after his victory over Thomas LaManna.
That inactivity remains the real hurdle. Staging a single return only to vanish for months stalls any momentum and keeps everyone wondering what he has left. Past belts at junior middleweight and middleweight still carry name recognition, yet they prove nothing about his standing as a super middleweight today.
Mazoudier offers a tuneup, but brushing aside an unheralded opponent will not convince the public that a Canelo meeting makes sense. Jermall needs a genuine test against a proven contender at 168, paired with consistent ring time to show he is truly back.
Back in 2023, the chance to fight Canelo shifted to his twin, Jermell, who dropped a wide decision. Three years down the line, Jermall remains focused on that matchup without collecting the meaningful wins needed to demand it.
Relying on Canelo to be there later is a massive gamble. The Mexican star has Christian Mbilli in front of him, a result capable of reshaping the landscape at 168 pounds overnight. Charlo simply cannot build a career timeline around a champion who holds all the cards.
Claiming he refuses to chase the Mexican superstar sounds fine in soundbites, but backing it up requires targeting opponents who force the issue. If Jermall gets past Mazoudier, he must jump straight into a top-tier super middleweight clash instead of retreating into another extended layoff.
Targeting Osleys Iglesias would force the division to pay attention. Iglesias represents everything the marquee names at 168 have spent the past two years ducking: a southpaw Cuban puncher with devastating power, sharp fundamentals, and zero commercial incentive for anyone looking for an easy night.
If Charlo wants to shed the perception that he is merely coasting on his past name value while angling for a Canelo lottery ticket, Iglesias is the exact litmus test to take. Tearing the IBF belt away from a boogeyman nobody wants to touch would do more for Jermall in one night than three years of passive posturing ever could. It strips away any excuse for Canelo to look past him.
Of course, the entire dynamic hinges on what happens on October 31st. Mbilli brings a relentless pace that could easily batter the remaining tread off Canelo’s tires. If Mbilli pulls off the upset or roughs Canelo up enough to alter his twilight plans, chasing Canelo becomes completely pointless anyway. By targeting Iglesias instead, Charlo would establish real championship leverage at 168 on his own terms, regardless of whose hand gets raised at the end of October.