Jermall Charlo Marks 2023 for Potential Bout with David Benavidez
Two years ago, WBC middleweight champion Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (32-0, 22 KO’s) publicly stated that he would love a fight with David “Red Flag” Benavidez (25-0, 22 KO’s). He even went so far as to say that he would go to the two-time super middleweight champion’s 168-pound stomping ground to engage in fisticuffs. He probably has regretted making these statement ever since.
This is due to the fans and media constantly hounding him about whether or not this fight is coming soon, if not next? Rather than be eager to make the match, Charlo routinely acts flat-out annoyed by the inquiry itself. Even worse, the Hit Man has remained committed to his maddening game of Hokey-Pokey on the topic. Sometimes when asked, he says making the fight is no problem, while on other occasions he’s given a laundry list of reasons why the fight can’t happen.
At one point, he said that Benavidez was both, not old enough and had to be vaccinated, to get a contract signed. All in all, it’s a bad look on Jermall, especially when his twin brother Jermell is running around fighting back-to-back fights for undisputed at super welterweight. Jermell’s open striving for greatness shines an even brighter light on Jermall’s willful mediocrity.
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When most recently asked about his desire to face Benavidez by Fight Hub TV, Charlo gave his typical conflicting retort and essentially put the onus of control in the hands of PBC mastermind Al Haymon.
“I feel like the fight is getting real close, it’s going to happen in ’23. I want it! I feel like next year we should get it on.”
“We’ll figure it out when we get there. He get hit a lot, we seen it happened to him before. I got the best trainer in the world, I got the best team in the world. I’ll train my ass for it, he can’t beat me, no matter what weight division it is.”
“I wanted the fight to happen. I talked to Al, we’re going to make the fight happen. If not, then we are going to keep fighting who we fighting. I got the best management in the group. Trust me, my handlers doing great, they doing great with my career!”
NO TIME FOR BREATH HOLDING
While the first part of the quote would have left boxing fans hopeful and excited, the second portion goes a long way to crushing that blossoming zeal. To begin, there is no real reason to push the fight all the way back to 2023 when we are not officially at the halfway point of 2022. They will both stage their next fight within a month of one another and, barring injury, there is nothing stopping them from fighting afterwards.
Benavidez has already said unless he gets a shot at Canelo or division rival Caleb Plant, he would love to dance with Charlo following his duel with David Lemieux on June 21. Those two matches are long shots at this point and he is the heavy favorite ahead of Lemieux. So, why the wait? Provided that Charlo does beat Maciej Sulecki on June 18, it will be very revealing to see who he battles in the fall. If that opponent is levels below Red Flag in quality, then the shabby reputation that Jermall Charlo is weaving for himself will only get worse. Let’s hope that this is not the case!
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By: Bakari Simpson
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