WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo 33-0 (22) hinted that he plans on campaigning in the super middleweight division following his victory over Jose Benavidez Jr 28-3-1 (19) at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old from Houston, Texas was returning to the ring for the first time in two-and-a-half years following time on the sidelines to deal with injuries and mental health issues.
The 10-round non-title bout was scheduled to take place at a catchweight of 163-pounds, however Charlo missed weight by a large margin, coming in at 166.5-pounds. He won by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 and was rarely troubled by the naturally smaller Benavidez Jr.
The fight took place on the undercard of the super middleweight fight between WBC interim titleholder David ‘El Monstruo’ Benavidez 28-0 (24) and Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade 32-1 (19). Benavidez won by sixth-round knockout.
Despite failing dismally to make weight against Benavidez Jr, Charlo says he still plans on defending his WBC belt. He is also open to a unification bout with Kazakh southpaw and WBO and IBF champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly 15-0 (10) or WBC interim titleholder Carlos Adames 23-1 (18) of the Dominican Republic.
“I would definitely love to step up, get right back in a banger,” Charlo said at the post-fight press conference.
“I’ll fight the Janibek and I’ll fight the mandatory. What’s his name? Carlos Adames. Shout out to them guys for making it to number one. They did what they had to do.
“I’m definitely the type of fighter to give them a chance. I never dodged nobody. I never ducked nobody. If the circumstances are right, you will see me in there with them.
“I’m not here to like hold no belt or do nothing strange. Shout out to the WBC. You know, they understood my situation. They understood my problem. They know that I’m a real champ in they division.
“And I love them for understanding me and we gonna put up the belt as soon as we fight. Like the next fight, the belt will be on the line. If it’s at 160, that’s where it’s going.
“If I gotta go to 168, I’ll go to 168 and fight for this interim belt that [David Benavidez] just won or he just defended tonight. Like I’m down for whatever.”
He added: “I’m not really a matchmaker. I’m not the person that’s put me in these positions. I’m happy to be here and I’ll fight my way through it.
“But if it comes to [that] time and I fight Adames – and I’m pretty sure that mandatory’s gonna come to the point where I have to fight Adames – and I have to fight Janibek to become undisputed or unify the division at 160.”
Charlo said he would be speaking to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman this week to plot his next move.
“I mean, ’68 is hot. You know, David Benavidez just won against Demetrius. We’ll be a great fight,” Charlo said.
“I saw [former IBF super middleweight champion] Caleb Plant in the crowd. That’ll be a good fight. I know there’s some competition at 168. I easily could make 168. But the sky is the limit right now.
“I’m just go let God do what he do and he gonna put me in the right path of where I need to be and we just gonna keep going, man. Our legacy is our legacy.”
