Jermell Charlo will jump up two weight divisions to take on undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 20th, and looks to already be priming his physique for the task.
Charlo holds all four world titles at the light middleweight limit of 154lbs – a full stone under what Alvarez has campaigned at in recent years.
However, the American looked anything but undersized in a post he recently shared on his official Instagram account, with the caption “With Great Risk Comes Great Reward”.
The announcement of Alvarez fighting Charlo as opposed to twin brother Jermall came as a huge surprise to the boxing world, as many thought a bout with the latter was a done deal
The historic contest will be the first in which two reigning undisputed champions have locked horns in the four belt era, and has been positively received amongst the majority of boxing fans.
Although Charlo will have to jump up two weight classes to super middleweight, he and Canelo were once both in the same weight category and there is a sense that there may not be as big a size differential as one would initially expect.
Many in the sport also believe the Mexican is on the decline, and in his last three fights against John Ryder, Gennadiy Golovkin and Dmitri Bivol, he has not looked as clinical as he has in the past.
Charlo, on the other hand, looks to be a fighter in his prime, and is coming into the bout off a stunning 10th round KO victory over Brian Castano that saw him crowned undisputed champion.