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Minutes after unified super middleweight Canelo Alvarez demolished and stopped Billy Joe Saunders, middleweight champion Jermall Charlo became the latest boxer to officially throw his name in the hat for the Canelo Alvarez sweepstakes.
“F— the money, f— the fame, f— the networks,” Charlo said in an Instagram post. “I’ll lose my title and go to 168, make the fight happen now.”
The WBC middleweight champion Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) will next face Juan Macias Montiel (22-4-2, 22 KOs) on June 19 at the Toyota Center in Houston on Showtime, but he already has his sights set on a fall mega-fight with boxing’s biggest breadwinner.
“We can fight in the fall, I don’t think he has anything on his resume. Whatever makes Canelo happy,” said Charlo, when asked if he’d entertain fighting Alvarez at a 164-pound catchweight. “We could fight for the [160-pound WBC Franchise championship]. We haven’t seen that in history before … Just get in the ring with Jermall Charlo and have the fans shut up. In September, I’ll be ready then. I’m fighting June 19th, I’ll be ready in September.
“Whatever they want. They’re going to try and put me in a situation where it’s not fair for me, and that’s why I’m prepared to be the most comfortable in the most uncomfortable position, and if that takes me fighting [Montiel], that’s what I’m going to do. I’m here to win, I’m here to take over the world. In boxing, it’s not that hard to make a fight. They make fights every day.”
A fight between a pair of pound-for-pound kings who are both 30-years-old would instantly become one of boxing’s most lucrative bouts of the last decade.
Alvarez’s will presumably next fight on Mexican Independence Day weekend on September 18. The Mexican superstar has his sights set on IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant to become the undisputed champion at 168. In a span of three fights, Alvarez already owns the WBC, WBA, WBO and Ring Magazine titles. Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) plans on fighting at 168 throughout 2022 as well.
Alvarez coach Eddy Reynoso has long considered Charlo a desired opponent.
“Yes, Canelo vs. [Jermall] Charlo is a good fight,” Reynoso said last November. “Charlo has a lot of qualities. He’s spectacular, tall for the division, strong, and has good boxing skills. Sooner or later, those fights have to happen. We just have to stay in the gym and keep working, try to resolve the problems we have and move forward with Canelo’s career. Charlo saying he would KO Canelo if they fought? Before fighting in the ring, a lot of things are said but inside the ring, it’s a different story.”
Charlo would surely punt the waiting game for Alvarez if they could agree on the desired weight between 160 and 168 pounds.
The same can’t be said for everyone else note named Canelo.
“If they want to see me, they have to come to 160,” Charlo told the rest of the competition. “I’m at 160 right now, I’m making it real smooth. We’re campaigning 160 pounds.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com