After witnessing his brother headline one of boxing’s biggest events this year, Jermall Charlo is finally set to step through the ropes a whopping 31 months since his last outing. Although, despite being the WBC Middleweight Champion, his belt will not be on the line.
‘Hit Man’ has held the 160lbs title since 2019 but has made just four defences of the strap in an almost five-year reign.
His last contest came in June 2021 where he outpointed Juan Macias Montiel by a wide margin to retain. Ever since he has been linked to major fights in the middleweight division, as well as at higher weight-classes.
Charlo suffered an injury ruling him out of a fight against Maciej Sulecki or any others he had his eye on, and then took an extended break from boxing due to what WBC President, Mauricio Sulaiman, described ‘mental health episode’.
Now, it appears Charlo is back and ready to reign once more, sort of. Dan Rafael reports that the Texan will return on the hotly-anticipated David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade card in a non-title bout.
“Charlo will face Jose Benavidez Jr. in a 10-round non-title bout above the 160-pound division limit in the co-feature of the fight between WBC interim super middleweight titlist David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade on Nov. 25 (Showtime PPV, 8 p.m. ET, $74.99) at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.”
The WBC are yet to comment on the status of Charlo’s title and why he has been permitted to return but not defend.
From one pair of boxing brothers to another, ‘big’ Charlo will take Jose Benavidez Jr, whose younger sibling is the main-event attraction and WBC mandatory super-middleweight challenger for Canelo.