Jermell Charlo’s Call-out Of Terence Crawford Raises Eyebrows
Unified champion Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (35-2-1, 19KO), coming off a defeat against undisputed super middleweight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (59-2-2, 39KO), has made headlines by calling out two-divisional undisputed champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (40-0, 31KO).
Charlo’s “lions-only” persona has taken a hit in the eyes of the boxing public following his embarrassing performance against Canelo. He seemed to adopt a survival mode strategy right from the opening bell, spending the entire fight on the back-foot.
During the post-fight interview, the Texan was asked about the possibility of facing the winner of the Tim Tszyu versus Brian Mendoza bout.
“I guess the winner of him [Tim Tszyu] and Mendoza, whoever I got to fight, I’m down to fight whoever, you know. Hey, I want to fight Terence Crawford, fuck that. I can fight Terence Crawford in my weight division.”
Jermell Charlo – Unified Junior Middleweight Champion
To be fair, Iron Man had previously expressed a willingness to return to the junior middleweight division to fight Crawford after facing Canelo. However, his call-out might have been better received by fans if he had put up a stronger fight against Canelo.
It’s unlikely fans will be eager to see a Charlo vs Crawford match-up at this point. The WBO has officially stripped Charlo of his title and elevated Tszyu to champion status from the interim.
Charlo will need to regain the trust of boxing fans, and that journey could begin by recapturing the undisputed crown, potentially by facing the winner of the Tszyu vs Mendoza bout.
