Not everyone thinks Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 59-2-2 (39) will have an easy time defending his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF super middleweight titles against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo 35-1-1 (19) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 30.
When the fight was first announced the consensus wisdom was that a jump up two weight classes for Charlo would be a bridge too far against The Ring’s number four ranked pound-for-pound boxer.
But trainer of champions Virgil Hunter says he has seen signs of the 33-year-old Mexican superstar slipping in recent years and believes that there are holes in his game that an experienced pro like Charlo will be able to exploit.
“I think Canelo is slipping. I think he’s very hittable. I think he only throws one or two punches. I think the stamina problem is right there,” Hunter said to Fight Hub TV.
“Jermell is much more durable than Amir [Khan], has much more punching power and I think Canelo is showing some slippage ’cause he seems to be able to throw one or two punches at one time. And from what I understand he lives a pretty party lifestyle also.
“So money can do some strange things to you, man. When you been fighting as long as he has, from a kid and things like that, and the ego is there, you can start bypassing things, you can lose the hunger. And when the hunger’s gone the skills start going.
“So I think if he gets tired against Jermell, and Jermell shows great ability late rounds, that it could be a problem if he lets it get on the other side of seven, eight. It could be a problem.”
For Charlo it will be his first fight back since his 10th round knockout of Brian Castano in their rematch in May last year.
The 33-year-old Texan was slated to defend his WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF 154-pound titles against Australian Tim Tszyu 23-0 (17) in January but that bout was postponed and eventually cancelled after Charlo suffered to fracture to his left hand in sparring shortly before last Christmas.
The enforced time off coupled with the hand injury adds another level of intrigue to the contest, but Hunter doesn’t expect there factors to weigh on the result.
“I don’t see Jermell standing there and letting him get bombs off on him. I think it’s gonna be a very interesting fight and I don’t think weight has much to do with this,” Hunter said.
“I think it’s gonna be skill and I think if Jermell can hit with authority enough to get his respect, that’ll be an interesting fight. That’s the whole key.”
If Charlo does manage to pull off the upset, he will gatecrash the pound-for-pound rankings and finally receive the credit he believes he already richly deserves.
