One Charlo is as good as another, according to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The Mexican superstar was expected to defend his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF super middleweight titles against WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo 32-0 (22) in September after signing a three fight deal with Premier Boxing Champions.
But in a surprise move, it was Jermall’s twin brother Jermell Charlo 35-1-1 (19) who got the gig, despite being a career-long junior middleweight where he hold undisputed status.
With Jermall being out of the ring for more than two years, the substitute Charlo may well be the better option.
From the perspective of Alvarez 59-2-2 (39), he is just happy to be defending his titles again.
“Yeah, my thought was Jermall, obviously, the most closest to my weight,” Alvarez said of the upcoming fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 30.
“But you know, they’re both the same. I think for me, in my opinion, Jermell is a better fighter than his brother. He has a better resume. He has better opposition, everything.
“He has a lot of talent, power and he was involved in a lot of good fights too, so he has a lot of things.”
The Charlo twins, 33, of Houston, Texas have both built impressive resumes since turning pro 15 years ago.
Jermall Charlo won the IBF junior middleweight title in 2015 and made three successful title defence before moving up to the 160-pound division where he won the WBC belt and defended the strap three times before mental health issues sidelined his reign since mid-2021.
Jermell Charlo is a two-time junior middleweight champion who won the WBC bauble in 2016 and defended three times before running into Tony Harrison and losing a unanimous decision two-and-a-half years later.
He stopped Harrison in the 11th round of their rematch a year later and went on to unify all four major world title betls at 154-pounds against Brian Castano in May last year in a rematch of their draw 10 months earlier.
Jermell is proud of what they have both achieved in that period and expects success to follow him up to the 168-pound weight class.
“Me and my brother Jermall have been putting on for boxing and it’s our time now,” Charlo said. “A lot of people are worried about the wrong things. When you want to win something this big, you have to risk it all…
“I don’t have any excuses. Whatever happens, happens. I came here to win this fight. I’m not laying down. I don’t care what anyone says… I’m gonna be training my ass off.”
Alvarez thanked Jermell for stepping up to the plate and promised to improve on his last two outings, decision wins over John Ryder in May and Gennadiy Golovkin in their trilogy bout last September.
“Thank you to Jermell for taking this fight. I’m very happy to be in this position and to be in big fights,” Alvarez said. “Jermell is a great fighter who takes on big challenges just like I do. I always take risks…
“It’s good that people are saying I’ve lost a step. It’s fine. I know why I didn’t look as good in my last two fights. I know why and I’m different now… we’re going to find out if he’s got enough on September 30.”
