July 31, 2023 Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Canelo Alvarez took the boxing world by storm on June 30 when he announced his upcoming fight against Jermell Charlo on social media.
Many suggested that the announcement featured a gross error because, for an extended period of time, all signs pointed to Alvarez fighting Jermell’s twin brother and WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
After all, Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) was offered a fight with Jermall last year for $45 million as part of a two-fight pact that would conclude with a contest against Errol Spence Jr. or David Benavidez, but the Mexican star instead opted to take on Dmitry Bivol. Alvarez has since signed a three-fight deal with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, and the pact kicks off Sept. 30 against Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) in Las Vegas on Showtime pay-per-view in a yet-to-be-named venue.
Charlo said he was always ready to take on the four-division Mexican champion. "I wasn't surprised [to get the call to fight Alvarez],” Charlo said on Showtime.
“This is nothing new for me. This is something that I knew was going to manifest anyways. It's happening. September 30, I'll be prepared.
"My brother is not capable of fighting right now. So he's not available. When I got the call, aye, I'm down for whatever. I want all the smoke. I'm here for whatever, you know what I'm saying? It only takes a phone call for me to make it happen.” What made Jermell the surprise pick even more was that he was slated to face Tim Tszyu in a fight that was once announced for Jan. 28 but postponed in December after Charlo suffered a broken left hand.
“I know Tim Tszyu was my [mandatory] challenger. But he does nothing for my career,” said Charlo.
“He still needs to build up himself, build up his career. I’m cool with that. But I was down to fight him anyways. But when we ran into the injury, and now it’s like – we get an opportunity like this, we’re gonna go ahead and take that.”
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