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By: Hector Franco
Usually occasions the present period of boxing is maligned and castigated as being lower than eras of the previous. Whereas nobody would describe this era as a “golden period” or evaluate it to the Nineteen Eighties, there are a number of standout positives that must be appreciated.
This weekend on the AT&T Middle in San Antonio, Texas, unified WBC, WBA, and IBF junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs) will step within the ring towards WBO junior middleweight champion Brian Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) to crown an undisputed champion within the division.
Charlo has arguably been probably the most constant junior middleweight over the past decade. He has been on the planet title scene for over the earlier 5 years. The Texas native was examined climbing up the rankings in direction of a world title going through the likes of Demetrius Hopkins, Gabriel Rosado, and Vanes Martirosyan.
When he first gained the vacant WBC junior middleweight title, stopping John Jackson in eight rounds in Might 2016, Charlo went on to make three defenses which included a win over former junior middleweight champion Austin Trout and a first-round knockout over the up and coming Erickson Lubin.
The primary bump within the highway for Charlo got here towards Detroit, Michigan’s Tony Harrison. Charlo would lose a detailed unanimous determination to Harrison in December 2018. Nonetheless, virtually a 12 months to the day later, in December 2019, Charlo reclaimed his WBC title by stopping Harrison in eleven rounds.
After changing into a two-time WBC junior middleweight champion by stopping Harrison, Charlo would face the Dominican Republic’s Jeison Rosario, who on the time held the WBA and IBF junior middleweight titles.
Extremely, Charlo stopped Rosario with a jab to the physique within the eighth spherical to carry three of the 4 main titles within the division.
Charlo’s expertise and stage of competitors have given him a way of confidence that has emboldened him to not really feel any strain going towards Castano.
“I don’t have any strain on me,” Charlo mentioned on the closing press convention. “I’ve been on this place so many occasions in my life. If I felt the strain, I wouldn’t be on this second. He has to come back and do his factor.
“He has to place the strain on me and keep away from these bombs I’m throwing.”
A victory for Charlo would put him in a uncommon class as being an undisputed champion. Nonetheless, it might place him amongst the very best fighters to have fought at junior middleweight.
The junior middleweight division has a dynamic historical past because it has featured among the greatest fighters within the sport’s historical past.
The burden class first got here to fruition in 1962, crowning Emile Griffith as its first champion. A number of the greatest fighters to ply their commerce within the division embody Ronald Wright, who was the premier fighter at 154 within the 2000s, Mike McCallum and Thomas Hearns reigned within the Nineteen Eighties, and Terry Norris, who dominated within the Nineties.
Hearns was named the best junior middleweight of all time in 1994 by Ring Journal.
The burden class has additionally been a pit cease for among the most notable names in boxing. Ray Leonard defeated Ayub Kalule in 1981 to win the WBA junior middleweight title earlier than his mega-bout with Hearns.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. used junior middleweight for a majority of his highest-grossing bouts towards the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez, and even Conor McGregor.
Charlo is conscious of the historic significance of changing into the undisputed champion at junior middleweight and what it will imply for his profession.
“This can be a main combat as a result of it’s historical past for me and my household,” Charlo mentioned. “It’s large for everybody that I signify, and that’s been supporting me for all these years. It was due time to get in there for this combat.
“The belts and the cash usually are not on my thoughts. What’s on my thoughts is the legacy.”
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