Jermell Charlo is eyeing world titles at 160lbs after his July 17 undisputed super-welterweight fight against Brian Castano.
Charlo will put his WBC, WBA and IBF belts on the line against the WBO holder in a bout that no doubt brought a smile to many when it was announced in April.
The Showtime attraction will take place at the AT&T Centre in San Antonio and will arrive one month after Charlo’s twin brother Jermall successfully defended his WBC middleweight crown against Juan Montiel. And Jermell has plans to join his fighting sibling in the same division.
“When I win on July 17 and I unify the belts and become undisputed, that’s just another trophy for me,” said the 31-year-old at a press conference yesterday.
“I want to keep it going. I want to win another world title in the same weight class as my brother. We won them at 154. I want to win them at 160. We’re not done.”
Jermall enjoyed championship success at 154lbs winning the IBF championship in 2015 against Cornelius Bundrage before going on to defend it three times in 15 months. Jermell believes that despite their mirrored careers there is one defining factor that separates them.
“Once you lose a fight, that’s the hardest thing,” he said. “I lost before and it separates me from my twin brother. He’s never lost. He’s an undefeated champion right now. I was an undefeated champion that lost, and I had to figure the ropes out. That loss made a big difference for me.
“After I avenged my loss (against Tony Harrison), I came back to fight Jeison Rosario who was supposedly the new guy. We really trained differently for him because he was a bigger guy. But we stayed strong, and we got it done.”
Castano, from Buenos Aires, is zoned in on making history and spoke of his admiration for his countryman Manu Ginóbili who spent 16 years playing for NBA franchise San Antonio Spurs under the lights of the AT&T Stadium.
“Fighting in San Antonio is quite big and everybody knows that Manu Ginobili is such a hero there. We all admire and love Manu, who is one of Argentina’s best-ever in any sport. If you go to San Antonio and you were born in Argentina like myself, you better be ready to give it your all to keep his legacy.”
The 31-year-old goes into this undisputed showdown as the betting underdog but is a live one at that and is yet to taste defeat in 18 starts. His only blip came in 2019 when he retained his WBA title in a draw against the wily southpaw Erislandy Lara. Castano described his upcoming battle against Charlo as ‘the fight of my life’.
“This is the fight of my life and I feel so good about it. This fight is such an honor and a privilege. To have the chance to unify the four belts is such a unique opportunity. It’s about making history. Only a few fighters have been able to achieve it and write a golden page in the history books of boxing. I plan to be the first Latino to do so.
“It’s going to be a tough fight between two great champions. Charlo is strong and a good boxer, but he never suffered in the ring before. He will on July 17. My prediction is that I am going to win and he will suffer.”
“Brian Castaño is a great fighter,” said Charlo. “He comes to fight. He doesn’t stop. He does a lot of things that are impressive to the rest of the crowd, and I feel that he will fight. He will bang. He will box. He will move back. He will move forward. Lateral movement. Derrick and I have been working hard to prepare for everything. It takes a lot to jump in the ring and become an undisputed champion and with that being said, I’m going to do everything I can in my willpower to win this fight.”
Main Image: Esther Lin/Showtime