IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo got some really bad news on Tuesday, with the IBF ordering him to defend against his unbeaten mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev (21-0, 15 KOs), and he has until November 9th to bang out a deal before a purse bid is order.
If Jermell chooses to vacate the IBF belt, Murtazaliev would then fight the next highest-ranked available contender, which in this case would be 38-year-old Jack Culcay. Jermell might as well vacate his titles because he’s not showing interest in fighting the top contenders in the IBF’s rankings.
Vacating the IBF belt would leave Jermell with just two titles, and there’s no telling how soon he’ll be ordered to defend against his WBA & WBC mandatory challengers.
Jermell (35-2-1, 19 KOs) has maneuvered around Murtazaliev several times already, with step asides given, according to Dan Rafael.
The powerful Russian Murtazaliev isn’t the type of opponent that Jermell is hoping to fight following his twelve round shellacking by Canelo Alvarez on September 30th last month. It’ll be interesting to see if Jermell will fight him.
Jermell got a taste of the big money fighting Canelo, and like anyone who has become spoiled rotten, he wants as much dough as he can get for the remaining fights in his career.
The only one who will provide Jermell with the money that he wants at 154 is Terence Crawford. Terence already says that Jermell is no longer on his hit list.
If Crawford doesn’t change his mind about that. Jermell will need to look in the direction of the willer of WBO 154-lb champion Tim Tszyu and Brian Mendoza for their fight this Saturday night. That would be a big fight as long as Jermell is willing to fight Tszyu in Australia.
Crawford might choose to go in the direction of Jermell if it’s the best he can do. Jermell would provide Crawford with his biggest paydays in this era, and that’s what it’s all about.
Jermell has recent wins over Brian Castano, and Tony Harrison. He looked good in those fights, but not on the level of Crawford.
The way that Jermell fought against Canelo, he’ll lose to Murtazaliev just as badly, if not worse. Charlo looks like a shot fighter, and he’s not going to help himself by sitting inactive, waiting to get another massive payday.
Murtazaliev has been fighting obscure opposition almost exclusively during his nine-year career.
Recent wins by Murtazaliev:
- Roberto Valenzuela
- Ahmad Cheikho
- Manny Woods
- Khiary Gray