Jermell Charlo is emerging from his 15-month hibernation phase. He is asking PBC to set up a fight for him against the “best” they have at 154.
“Make It Make Sense”
They don’t have anyone at that weight to watch against the former undisputed junior middleweight champion, Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs). He says, “Make it make sense,” which is code for Jermell’s desire for a massive payday for his comeback. That ship sailed a long time ago.
That doesn’t seem likely unless Turki Alashikh wants to use him for one of his cards to feed him to Serhii Bohachuk. That would be fun to watch.
It’s too late for Jermell to fight Terence Crawford. He’s hunting big game and trying to get a golden parachute retirement payday against Canelo Alvarez. He won’t waste time on a fighter who lacks ambition and has been sitting on his sofa for 15 months.
Charlo may have burned his bridges with the non-effort he put in against Canelo Alvarez last time out, and he’s wrecked what little popularity he still had afterward by sitting on the shelf for over a year.
Jermell is estimated to have gotten a $20 million payday in that fight, which may explain why fans haven’t seen hide or hair of him ever since.
It’s possible that PBC could negotiate a fight for Jermell against newly crowned IBF 154-lb champion Bakram Murtazaliev. However, Charlo, 34, never showed interest in fighting Murtazaliev when he was his IBF mandatory, so it’s hard to see him agreeing to fight him now. If Charlo wants the quickest path to a world title. Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) would be the guy.
Charlo’s Demands
“Premier Boxing, give me the best you got, or whoever you think can handle me at 154. Let the fans choose. Lions only. Make it make sense,” said Jermell Charlo on social media.
It would be brave on Charlo’s part to challenge the unbeaten Murtazaliev for his IBF belt. This guy destroyed former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu by a third-round knockout on October 19th, dropping him four times in the fight. If he could do that against an active and still young Tszyu, you could only imagine what Murtazaliev would do to the ring-rusty, old Jermell.
Jermell looked horrid in his one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez 15 months ago on September 30, 2023. Charlo didn’t appear even to try to win the fight as he moved around the ring, playing it safe for 12 rounds. Many boxing fans believe that Jermell came for the payday and never intended to try and win.
The fact that Jermell hasn’t fought since that loss further increases the belief that it was always just about money for him.