Tim Bradley says he doesn’t fault Jermell Charlo one bit for coming for the paycheck against Canelo Alvarez last Saturday night because he knew he wasn’t going to win.
Bradley states that Jermell (35-2-1,19 KOs) was aware from the moment the contract was signed that he wasn’t going to win because he was moving up two weight classes and had no chance to slowly move into the 168-lb division.
Jermell was brought in as a replacement for his brother Jermall and was rushed into the fight.
Bradley says Jermell did box Canelo the way normally does at 154, but what worked for him in his weight class was ineffective at 168 against the Mexican star.
At 154, Jermell is bigger than his opponents and is considered a weight bully by some, a fighter who should be campaigning at 160.
“I didn’t see those skills in Charlo. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that. I saw him in the [Brian] Castano fight. I saw him in the first fight with him. I saw him with Harrison, and that was enough for me to easily say that this was a mismatch,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype, reflecting on Jermell Charlo’s loss to Canelo Alvarez last Saturday night.
“Knowing what Canelo has done over the years and continues to do so, just knowing his styles and seeing the openings and and understanding that you know the size is going to be a big difference, a big issue here. Looking at the fight from the first round, actually, I knew exactly when the fight was signed, I knew that Charlo wasn’t going to show up.
“With Charlo at 154, everything is right. He’s the bigger man, he’s the longer man; he’s strong, he’s confident, his body looks good, he’s hard, he’s solid you, and he’s fighting at his ultimate weight, 154.
“He wasn’t the same Charlo, and I didn’t expect him to be. I didn’t expect him to have more punching power and more speed. I got exactly what I thought I was going to get, but everybody was sold on a hope. That’s what it was they were sold on, the hope of Charlo having a possibility, a puncher’s chance.
“Now the talk is about Charlo not having heart. Charlo not not trying to win, and I just want these people to really understand that what are you talking about? He never had a chance. Even if he tried to fight, he would have been knocked out.
“This dude is literally fighting the way everybody said he should fight. Granted, he didn’t take the valuable chances to be able to land but box.
“Charlo has to outbox him. He can’t get in his emotions. He has to play defensively tight. He has to use his jab out of distance, and he has to use his legs.
“There’s a blueprint out there for him, that’s what I said. There’s a blueprint out there he can follow. We all said the same things. Then he goes out there, and he does it the way he thinks he should do it. He boxes the way he thinks boxing should be. It’s his way.
“It’s his definition of what we all were talking about, and now everybody’s saying, ‘Oh, he ain’t got no heart.’ What did you think he was going to do? This dude was two divisions below Canelo Alvarez from the first punch he knew. From the press conference, he knew [he wasn’t going to win].
“From when he signed the contract, he knew what he was signing up for, and he was signing up for the paycheck. Now, do you blame him? I don’t blame him,” said Bradley about Jermell.
