PBC is negotiating dual unification fights between IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and WBO champ Brian Castano, and IBF/WBC 147-lb champ Errol Spence Jr and WBA champ Yordenis Ugas for July 3rd or 10th in Houston, Texas. This would be pay-per-view on Fox Sports.
This will be an incredible card if PBC is able to get the Charlo-Castano and Spence-Ugas fights negotiated. It might be even better than the highly hyped Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury pay-per-view fight in July.
LA Nacion is reporting the information on the Charlo-Castano & Spence-Ugas card. Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) would be on the undercard against Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs).
If Premier Boxing Champions chief Al Haymon is able to get the two fights done, there will be an announcement soon. It’s a smart move for PBC to package Charlo and Spence’s fights together, as that will increase the chances of a lot of PPV buys.
Either fight along probably isn’t going to move the needle much with the boxing public, considering that WBO 154-lb champion Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) and WBA 147-lb belt-holder Ugas aren’t household names in the United States.
Although Castano and Ugas are talented fighters, they wouldn’t sell as opponents if it was just one unification fight on the July 3 or 10th card rather than two.
All four 154-lb titles will be at stake for the Charlo vs. Castano fight, which is a great selling point for the fight.
Spence and Charlo (34-1, 19 KOs) are both popular fighters, but their opponents aren’t well known enough for them to sell the fight if they didn’t have a one-two punch going with two big names on the card. But by combining Spence and Charlo on the same card, virtually guarantees the event will bring in pay-per-view buys.
Additionally, having Spence and Jermell on the same card will prime the pump for boxing fans for when Errol moves up to 154, possibly in 2022 to after all the titles. We could see Spence take on Jermell next year if he’s still the champion at 154.
Castano has a good chance of beating Charlo in this fight, and it won’t be a surprise if we see a minor upset. But if that happens, Spence vs. Castano would be an excellent match in 2022.
But you have to believe that Charlo will insist on a rematch with Castano if he loses to him in July because he’s got too much pride to let him walk away without trying to avenge the loss.
With Spence and Ugas, they’ll have 3 of the 4 titles at 147 on the line for their undercard fight. The only strap that won’t be fought for is the WBO title held by Terence Crawford.
Castano won his WBO title last February, beating champion Patrick Teixeira by a 12 round unanimous decision in a fun-to-watch fight in Indio, California.
For many casual boxing fans that had never seen the Argentinian Castano fight before, they pleasantly surprised at how entertaining his aggressive inside fighting style was. Castano took the fight to Teixeira from the opening bell and worked him over on the inside the entire fight in winning by the scores 119-109, 120-108, and 117-111.