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Jermall Charlo has been the subject of several hot boxing rumors in recent days.
The latest news break, however, has him back in legal trouble outside the ring.
The unbeaten two-division and reigning WBC middleweight titlist was arrested Friday afternoon in Fort Bend County, Texas, following a warrant executed for his arrest. Charlo was charged with Assault Causing Bodily Injury of a Family Member after having a previous conviction for family violence, a third degree county which carries a sentence of 2-10 years in prison if found guilty.
Charlo remains in custody as this goes to publish, with an unsecured bond sent at $10,000 for his release.
Fort Bend County Jail records indicate that Charlo (32-0, 22KOs) was arrested at 1:29pm on Friday, though it remains unclear If the executed warrant was for a prior investigation or a recent incident.
Charlo was previously under investigation for an alleged aggravated assault incident in May 2020, also in his hometown of Richmond, Texas. T An unnamed claimant alleged to have been assaulted to the point of suffering bodily harm at which point an official report was filed classifying the alleged incident as Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury. The boxer was never arrested nor were charges filed at the time.
It remains unclear if the recent arrest warrant is a result of a development in that case or if his arrest on Friday was for a freshly reported incident. A call to a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s spokesperson seeking comment and clarification was not immediately returned.
Jermall and twin brother Jermell Charlo both fight for Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), whose company policy disallows comment on open police investigations and legal matters.
Charlo (32-0, 22KOs) has been out of the ring since a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Juan Macias Montiel last Juneteenth (June 19) at Toyota Center in his Houston hometown. The win marked the fourth successful title defense for Charlo since his reign was upgraded from “interim” to “World” champion in June 2019.
The next fight for the Houston-based boxer has not yet been determined. He was on the short list of potential next opponents for pound-for-pound king and four-division champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs), who continues to weigh his options for a planned May 7 ring return. Charlo would move up to super middleweight to challenge the reigning undisputed champion if he is chosen as the next opponent.
Friday’s arrest comes less than two weeks after Charlo was fully exonerated on previous robbery charges from an incident last July in San Antonio. A misunderstanding over the boxer’s debit card being initially declined for services rendered led to a dispute which he believed to have been resolved, only to have been issued an arrest warrant three weeks later.
Charlo was initially charged with three counts of second-degree felony robbery, though all charges were dropped investigators secured video evidence to back the boxer’s claims of no wrongdoing in the matter.
This a developing story…
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox