WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo 29-0 (21) retained his championship with a clear-cut 12-round points decision over Brandon Adams 21-3 (13) at the NRG Arena in Houston, Texas on Saturday night.
In his first fight since being elevated from interim to full champion during the week, Charlo pitched a virtual shutout to win by scores of 120-108 (Don Griffin), 120-108 (Steve Morrow) and 119-109 (David Sutherland).
“I wasn’t frustrated that I didn’t get the knockout,” Charlo said after the fight. “This is boxing and he came out to box. I came out to fight. It was a good fight. The city of Houston, I’ll be back.
“My hand will be alright. I hurt my hand in like the second round but I kept throwing it. It was obvious my jab wasn’t flowing.”
“I was coming up here to win,” said Adams. “I was coming to try to take him out in his hometown. He did what he was supposed to do. He’s a champ for a reason and I take my hat off to him.
“He’s a much bigger guy, period. I just tried to put my best foot forward and tried to take him out at the end.”
At middleweight it seems all roads lead to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
“Canelo has done a great job of being a champ, Golovkin also,” said Charlo. “Those guys are at the top but there’s always a young underdog and a lion ready to take over. That’s me.
“In order for me to get with Canelo, I’m going to need all my fans, and all the lions on my team to vouch for me. We all got to put in the word.
“Canelo got to fight me sooner or later. He cannot retire without fighting me. I’m one of the best out there. I’m 29-0 with 22 knockouts. He got to fight me sooner or later. In order to fight Canelo, I probably got to go to Dallas.”
 retained his championship with a clear-cut 12-round points decision over Brandon Adams 21-3 (13) at the NRG Arena in Houston, Texas on Saturday night.){kind=link}