Jermell Charlo: The key moments of the light middleweight champions career so far
Jermell Charlo faces the biggest fight of his career in October, despite already being the undisputed light middleweight world champion.
Charlo has enjoyed a remarkable boxing record so far having only been defeated once in 37 entries into the ring, but Canelo Álvarez offers the calibre of opponent that even he has not faced yet.
Charlo’s career so far peaks with fighting Canelo
Charlo will face Canelo on the 1st of October, in what will be the Mexican’s first fight while tied to the Premier Boxing Champions promotion. Charlo is a huge underdog for the fight, despite having held some of his world title belts for as long as four years.
Nobody has managed to steal Charlo’s belts in several years, but Canelo is expected to take them with ease. In the Canelo vs. Charlo odds, the former is a huge 1/4 favourite which shows his quality considering Charlo has been almost immaculate in a 16-year career so far. The boxing odds for the bout offer Charlo at 11/4 to achieve a 36th triumph of his career so far.
UNDISPUTED vs UNDISPUTED
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) June 30, 2023
🗓️ Sept. 30
📍Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/pAlSN5VszU
The prospect of facing the legendary Canelo is a level of task that Charlo has not been faced with so far. Despite having been crowned a world champion belt holder on multiple occasions, this night trumps all. Canelo vs. Charlo represents the biggest fight of the American’s career.
If Charlo were to remarkably cause an upset in Canelo’s PBC debut, then his prior achievements would be insignificant in comparison. Up to now, the American has had several crowning moments that have earned him a huge reputation within the boxing world.
The moments that came before could represent his peak achievements or just a stop on the journey to beating one of the greatest fighters of his generation.
Succeeding Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Charlo’s first belt was one which was previously occupied by the great Floyd Mayweather Jr and he hopes he can continue his trend of walking in the footsteps of legends following the fight against Canelo.
In 2015, Charlo faced John Jackson for the vacant WBC light middleweight title which was left behind by Mayweather upon retirement. Charlo was on the back foot for much of the fight, having only led one round out of the first seven based on the judge’s scorecard. But Charlo struck a powerful knockout blow in the eighth round to become a world champion.
That night in China turned out to be a catalyst for a glamorous career, as multiple successes followed.
Unified Champion
The peak of Charlo’s career so far was the night that he became the unified light middleweight champion against Brian Castano. It took two fights for Charlo to earn undisputed world champion status as the first bout was scored a draw.
In the rematch in 2022, Charlo caused a stoppage in the 10th round following successive knockdowns. The referee’s interference meant the American then held the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and the Ring title belts, making him the unified and undisputed champion of the world for his weight class. Charlo earned the PBC Fighter of the Year award for his huge achievement that year.
Jermell Charlo believes people are underestimating his size 💪 #CaneloCharlo pic.twitter.com/n0M8RrmG5w
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) September 11, 2023
Charlo’s almost immaculate career trajectory so far has set up a blockbuster fight against the great Canelo. Despite being the undisputed world champion of the light middleweight division, he is predicted to be no match for the Mexican.
It is unthinkable that a long-term champion of the world can enter a fight with little chance of succeeding, but that is the level of task that awaits Charlo. A win against Canelo would stamp the American’s legacy into the sport as one of the greats of his generation.
