Most observers have Jermell Charlo as the underdog going into his monster fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez later this month, especially given the fact he’s jumping up two full weight classes to challenge for the Mexican’s undisputed super middleweight crown.
Hall of famer Bernard Hopkins has weighed in on his countryman’s chances, however, and sees things rather differently.
In a recent interview with Fight Hub TV, Hopkins explained why he believes Charlo has over an 85% chance of dethroning Alvarez at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
“He [Charlo] has a legitimate chance. He has an 85% plus chance of beating Canelo. Why? Because, to my understanding, he’s not going in there to prove something, which would fall into Canelo’s hands.”
“But he’s going to go in there and let him know, establish in the first round. That he belongs, he’s tough and he’s going to show him that his time and came and gone.”
“Canelo has to be shown that he has slowed up. He ain’t gonna surrender and think, “I’ve slowed up so I’ll act like it. He has to be shown, and that has to be early.”
Plenty of pundits echo ‘B-Hop’s sentiment that Alvarez is perhaps on the decline, given his less than stellar performances against Dmitry Bivol, John Ryder and Gennadiy Golovkin recently.
That said, he is expected to be significantly heavier than Charlo on the night in Sin City, and an against the odds win for ‘Iron Man’ would send shockwaves around the boxing world.
The contest is the first time two reigning undisputed champions have locked horns in the four belt era, though Charlo will be stripped of his WBO super welterweight belt the moment he steps into the ring.