Showtime president Stephen Espinoza says undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo has two excellent options for his next fight in undefeated contenders Tim Tszyu and Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora.
If Charlo is still interested in fighting the best and not just sitting on his laurels after becoming the first-ever undisputed champion at 154, he’s got two excellent options in front of him in Tszyu and Fundora.
Espinoza points out that Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) has essentially cleaned out the 154-lb division with his wins over Brian Castano, Erickson Lubin, Jeison Rosario, and Tony Harrison.
Even so, Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) and Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs) pose serious threats to Charlo and could be even riskier fights for him than anyone that he’s faced before in his career.
We just saw what Fundora did to former Charlo opponent Erickson Lubin stopping in the ninth round after rearranging his face.
“It’s great for the sport when a big fight lives up to the hype, and this one certainly did and then some,” said Stephen Espinoza to Fighthype about last Saturday’s rematch between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano.
“I think there are options here. First, let’s acknowledge that when you talk about clearing out a division from [Austin] Trout, to [Erickson] Lubin to [Jeison] Rosario,” Espinoza said about the fighters that Jermell Charlo defeated at 154 to become the undisputed champion.
“He’s cleaned out the division. There’s not really an argument. The good thing is we have a good young generation.
“Maybe it’s a couple of fights early, but there’s a reason why Tim Tszyu came all the way back from Australia to this fight. There’s a reason why [Sebastian] Fundora came here. It wasn’t just to be fans.
“I know Tim Tszyu believes he does what Castano does but better. He’s a pressure fighter, and Tim Tszyu believes that pressure is the way to get to Jermell Charlo.
It’s great that Jermell has collected all four belts at 154, but the opposition he beat to win those titles was nothing special.
Charlo’s title wins at 154:
- John Jackson – WBC
- Tony Harrison – WBC
- Jeison Rosario – IBF & WBA
- Brian Castano – WBO
Those are decent fighters, but nothing special. Harrison had already been twice knocked out in the past by Willie Nelson & Jarrett Hurd before Charlo fought him.
Rosario had been knocked out by Nathaniel Gallimore long before Jermell beat him. Just last year, Erickson Lubin stopped Rosario in the sixth round.
As for John Jackson, he’d already been beaten by Willie Nelson and Andy Lee before Jermell beat him.
