Jermall Charlo is very content with present level of opposition
On June 19, WBC World Middleweight champion Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (31-0, 22 KO’s) will make the fifth defense of his title. He will do so against the challenge of the power-punching Juan Macias Montiel (22-4-2, 22 KO’s). When looking at his knockout stats, it would appear that Montiel is a tremendous striker. Yet, he is little known in the states and therefore few in the US are giving him a much of a shot at victory. Sadly very few, if any, of Charlo’s title defenses have been viewed as much of a threat. This is largely why there has been a consistent call for Hit Man to step up his level of competition.
To be fair, before leaving the division, boxing cash cow Saul “Canelo’ Alvarez never displayed a desire to dance with Charlo. The same can be said of current IBF World Middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. When it comes to WBO World Middleweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade however, this is not true.
Boo Boo has very consistently expressed his willingness to fight Charlo. Clearly, the feeling is not mutual. The most disheartening aspect of the situation is it is abundantly clear that Hit Man is extremely content with the present state of affairs. If there was any doubt of this, he erased them himself in a recent virtual roundtable presser.
“I enjoy the competition that they give me! They put me in matches, they want to see me fight Golovkin, Canelo, the top of the world! You know, so it makes me better, it makes me stronger, it makes me train better. I’m never okay or satisfied with just being where I’m at right now. I want to get better and better, so it’s okay.”
DON’T HAVE TO LIE TO KICK IT!
Even worse than being content with the humdrum opposition, Charlo attempted to re-write history.
“We’ve tried man, we’ve tried! Every time, like I fight Derevyanchenko, then we tried to go attack Golovkin, and Canelo moves up and he schedules another bout with someone else. Demetrius Andrade, whatever his name is, he fights somebody that nobody knows. Look, we tried man. The only thing that I can do is focus on Montiel.”
In the presser, Charlo makes it appear that he, and/or his team, has attempted to make a fight with Andrade. In all honesty, this may have taken place behind the scenes. Yet, in the public eye, this was far from the case. Not only was Charlo not eager to dance with Boo Boo, he and his brother were on a very vocal ‘boycott Andrade’ campaign. If given their way, they wanted to starve Andrade out of the sport. This is because their desired boycott would extend to all the notable middleweights in the division. Such a wish does not exactly sound like Hit Man was itching to trade leather with Andrade!
SAVING FACE
More than likely, Charlo made this statement because of the growing flack that he has received for his recent opponent. Rather than look like he is ducking or taking the easiest road possible, it sounds better to say that it was Team Andrade who is being difficult. The trouble is the receipts do not match that bill of sales. For Charlo’s sake, let’s hope that he can breeze through Montiel with the ease that he is forecasting. Yet, for the fan’s sake, if he does prevail, let’s hope that he does step up his competition. And in doing so, let’s cross our fingers and wish on a twinkling star that we can get a Charlo versus Andrade unification bout.
By: Bakari Simpson
