Claressa Shields says she believes Jermell Charlo has a better shot at beating Canelo Alvarez than Jermall, which isn’t saying much given the 2+ years of inactivity and the recent video of the badly slurrying unbeaten middleweight champion that was posted recently on Youtube.
Jermall looks finished as a fighter, but he’ll still likely be used as an opponent next year for Canelo to get a sure-thing win.
Shields sees Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) has more than enough power, speed & size to defeat undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) on September 30th on Showtime PPV.
At this point, it wouldn’t be a major shock for Jermell to win because Canelo has been carefully selecting his opponents for the past five years since 2018, and the only time he made a mistake is when he picked the live dog Dmitry Bivol a year ago.
Canelo lost a lot from his game, and his stamina has taken a real hit. Along the way, he’s developed a bad habit of loading up on single shots, looking to score one-punch knockouts.
This was obviously picked up due to the five years of Canelo fighting weak British opposition and a mix of other less-the-best guys like Avni Yildirim & 41-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin.
“I think little Jermell has a better chance of beating Canelo than big Jermall,” said Claressa Shields to Fighthype. “Skillwise, Jermell may fight at 154, but he walks around at 170 or 180. So he won’t have to cut as much; he’ll be stronger.”
Shields doesn’t appear to have been following the career of Jermall because if she had, she wouldn’t have mentioned him at all in talking about Canelo.
“Canelo is the guy to beat, but we’ve seen he’s not unbeatable. He lost to Floyd, and he lost to Bivol. So, Jermell is a very confident fighter, very determined, and he hates losing,” said Shields,
You can argue that Canelo lost to Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, and his first two fights against Gennadiy Golovkin, so he’s definitely not unbelievable. Again, at this point, Canelo looks like he has one foot out the door into retirement, which is why he’s choosing to be careful not to fight Bivol again or face his main competition at 168, David Benavidez & David Morrell Jr.
“In order for Canelo to win, he’s going to have to absolutely try and break Jermell, and I don’t think Jermell can be broken,” said Shields. “So, Jermell is just going to come out there knowing he’s got the speed. He may not be able to keep up with the power, but Jermell has his own type of power. He’ll be stronger.
“It’ll be a great fight, but I’m rocking with twins to bring it home. Honestly, I think the majority decision, Jermell Charlo. You go where the money is at. When you beat the top guy, Canelo, you go where the money is at.
“You go where the money is at. He’ll [Jermell] probably stay at 168 and fight against Bivol for all we care, but that’s where the money is after you beat Canelo,” said Shields.
“Canelo has been able to pick his opponents the last couple of years. Somebody needs to fight Demetrius Andrade. I’m tired of it. People say he’s not a good fighter. Then fight him and beat him then.
“I think Demetrius Andrade is the most avoided fighter in boxing. Seriously, Boo Boo is a problem. I think if he fought Canelo, he would give him trouble. I would like to see him and big Charlo fight,” said Claressa.
