Jermell Charlo (35-1-1,19 KOs) will be looking to boot King Canelo Alvarez off his throne this Saturday night when he challenges him for his four-belt undisputed super middleweight championship at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Charlo has been training hard for months for this opportunity, and it’s finally here. It won’t be easy, though, because Canelo is the favorite, and fighting at a venue that he’s only lost once.
Canelo, 33, has the advantage in technical skills, power & punch resistance, but that might not be enough for him to turn back the highly motivated Charlo.
Jermell holds the undisputed title at 154 and has beaten a lot of quality fighters during his 15-year career. His last win over Brian Castano was a fighter with a style similar to Canelo.
Canelo-Charlo will be shown live on Showtime PPV this Saturday, September 30th. The event starts at 8:00 p.m.ET.
“Jermell’s a very talented fighter, but he comes undone a little bit. He opens himself up, and he throws, gets a little bit crazy in the exchanges,” said Paulie Malignaggi to Boxing News, talking about the flaws in the game of Jermell Charlo that could hurt his chances of beating Canelo Alvarez.
Charlo’s weakness is his tendency to lose his cool and start slugging with his opponents when he gets hit. There’s nothing tactical about him once he gets hit.
He immediately goes to war and looks to fire back. Most of the time that works for him, but it failed him in his first fight with Castano and Tony Harrison.
“We noticed that with the Brian Castano fight and all that stuff. Honestly, with a guy two weight classes bigger and that strong, I don’t know if you can afford to do that.
“I think if Jermell is mentally focused and disciplined, he can make a good fight out of this because I think he’s more gifted as an athlete, but I just don’t know if mentally he has the self-control to keep a disciplined game plan throughout the whole fight. I haven’t noticed that from him yet,” said Malignaggi.
“I do give him a chance. He’s a very talented fighter,” said Johnny Nelson about Jermell.”I think Canelo is still a force to be reckoned with, but it’s 99 of the fighters in the world today.
“He’s not the fighter he was, but the fighter he is is enough to give hellfire to a lot of fighters out there and beat them. Charlo, you can’t write him off because this is a winnable fight for Charlo. He’s a talented fighter. He’s a skilled fighter.
“So, will the power make a difference? That might be the key factor,” said Nelson.
