Jermell Charlo Brings 147 Talk Back Into Return Mix

Jermell Charlo has reappeared with a simple message. He wants to fight, and he is willing to go back to 147 to make it happen.

After more than two years without a bout, the former undisputed junior middleweight champion posted on social media saying he has had enough of waiting. Charlo said he has been asking for fights since January 2024 and is no longer interested in conversations that go nowhere.

“Go back to 147.. mfer ain’t got time for all that waiting and talking,” Charlo wrote on X. “I literally can prove it since Jan 2024 I been asking to fight whoever say they the best at 154.”

The message lands after a long stretch of inactivity and missed openings. Charlo has not fought since his one sided twelve round loss to Canelo Alvarez in September 2023, a bout taken well above his natural weight. His last win came in May 2022. Since then, he has watched the junior middleweight division cycle through new names and new titles without him.

At one point, the WBA listed Charlo as a champion in recess and positioned him for a possible return tied to the Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov fight. That plan never developed. Nothing followed. Time kept moving.

Dropping to welterweight changes the picture, at least on paper. The division carries more attention and more money. It also places Charlo closer to fighters with large profiles, including Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Conor Benn. Those are the types of names that still make financial sense for a veteran coming off a long break.

Whether those fights are realistic depends on more than interest. Charlo turns 36 in May 2026 and has not competed at welterweight since December 2009, when he faced Abdon Lozano early in his career. Making 147 after years at higher weights is a real physical question, especially without a recent run of activity.

At 154, Charlo once controlled the terms. At 147, he would be entering a division already built around younger fighters who are active and visible. Any major payday likely depends on outside backing, possibly from Riyadh Season, rather than the traditional Las Vegas route.

Charlo had hoped to secure a fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. at junior middleweight. That never came together. Now the talk is about starting again, at a lower weight, with less time to wait for the right call.

The idea is simple, but the execution is not. At this point, Charlo needs a fight more than a plan, and he cannot afford to lose or look poor while trying to get back in.