Jermell Charlo returns: looking for a high-profile fight at 154

Jermell Charlo is emerging from his 15-month hibernation phase. He is asking PBC to put on a fight for him against the “best” they have at 154.

“Give it meaning”

They don’t have anyone at that weight to watch against former undisputed junior middleweight champion, Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs). He says, “Make it make sense,” which is code for Jermell’s desire for a huge payday for his return. That ship sailed a long time ago.

Jermell probably wants to be showered with enough wealth to buy the Beverly Hillbillies’ mansion in Bel Air, California.

This doesn’t seem likely unless Turki Alashikh wants to use him for one of his cards to feed him to Serhii Bohachuk. It would be fun to watch.

It’s too late for Jermell to fight Terence Crawford. He’s hunting big game and looking to get a golden parachute retirement payday against Canelo Alvarez. He won’t waste time with a fighter who has no ambition and has been sitting on the couch for 15 months.

Charlo may have burned his bridges with the lack of effort he put in against Canelo Alvarez last time, and destroyed what little popularity he still had afterward by sitting on the shelf for over a year.

Jermell is estimated to have earned a payout of $20 million in that fight, which may explain why fans haven’t seen him since.

It’s possible that PBC could negotiate a fight for Jermell against the newly crowned IBF 154-pound champion Bakram Murtazaliev. However, Charlo, 34, never showed interest in fighting Murtazaliev when he was mandatory in the IBF, so it’s hard to see him agreeing to fight him now. If Charlo wants the fastest route to the world title. Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) would be the man.

Carlo’s requests

“Premier Boxing, give me the best you got, or whoever you think can handle me at 154. Let the fans choose. Only lions. Make sense of it,” Jermell Charlo said on social media.

It would be brave of Charlo to challenge the undefeated Murtazaliev for his IBF belt, but that probably won’t happen. That boy is too good.

Murtazaliev destroyed former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu by third-round knockout on October 19, dropping him four times in the fight. If he could have done that against an active and still young Tszyu, you could only imagine what Murtazaliev would have done to rusty old Jermell.

Jermell looked awful in his one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez 15 months ago on September 30, 2023. Charlo didn’t even appear to be trying to win the fight as he moved around the ring, playing it safe for 12 rounds. Many boxing fans believe that Jermell came for payday and never intended to try to win.

The fact that Jermell never fought again after that defeat further reinforces the belief that it was always all about the money for him.