It was a night like no other nearly eight years ago, when Jermall Charlo retained his IBF junior-middleweight belt with a unanimous decision over Austin Trout and twin brother Jermell rallied to knock out John Jackson in the eighth round to capture the WBC’s 154-pound belt.
“I made history. I knew my brother would get the job done,” the 26-year-old Jermall said that night – May 21, 2016 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. “There’s no way you can contain a lion.”
Turns out, the only ones who could contain the Charlo brothers were truly “Lions Only:” themselves.
Without losing a title fight in their respective divisions, both men now find themselves effectively title-less following the WBC’s decision this week to strip the middleweight belt from a largely inactive and reportedly troubled Jermall following the absence by Jermell that has reduced the former undisputed junior-middleweight champion to a “champion in recess” at the WBA and WBC.
“You wonder if (they) have people who are really looking out for their best interests – people they will trust and listen to,” former welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi said on Friday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters.” “You hope somebody around them is smart enough to get through.”
The Charlos turn 34 on May 19.
They are both sidelined by self-induced means.
Jermell hasn’t fought since his disappearing act in the biggest fight of his career, a one-sided beating by Canelo Alvarez in September. A domestic violence case in December followed.
Jermall (33-0) seemingly seemed interested in closing a three-year inactive period when he returned to defeat Jose Benavidez Jr. in late November, but he missed a catch-weight figure above the middleweight limit, was passed over by Alvarez for a May date and then crashed his red Lamborghini in Pearland, Texas, this week and was arrested on suspicion of DWI and fleeing an accident scene.
The WBC then stripped Jermall’s belt and elevated Carlos Adames to champion amid speculation Adames will defend his belt on the June 15 card in Las Vegas headlined by Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Crashing a Lamborghini, for now, is the perfect symbol of where the Charlos are. Riches and opportunity surround them, and they’ve instead veered off the road.
“The Charlos grew up well, hard workers in the gym,” Malignaggi said. “The fact this is happening – that’s just going down the wrong path and you hope they overcome this.
“You’ll never make this kind of money again. You want to be smart going forward. You want to ensure you live comfortably after the sport.”
While WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman says he now considers Jermall a super-middleweight, Jermell will decide whether to return to a now-stacked 154-pound division that includes not only champions Sebastian Fundora, Israel Madrimov and Bakhram Murtazaliev, but contenders Terence Crawford, Tim Tszyu, Vergil Ortiz, Errol Spence Jr. and Danny Garcia.
Malignaggi said he can envision Jermell choosing to instead move up to the less-packed middleweight division and perhaps pursuing a title shot at his former Houston stablemate Erislandy Lara, the WBA middleweight champion at age 41.
Kazakhstan’s Janibek Alimkhanuly wears the WBO and IBF middleweight belts.
“Lara’s older and (Jermell) hasn’t been looking too stellar … Adames is a hungry, skilled and rough one,” that Charlo should likely avoid in the immediate future, Malignaggi said.
“I don’t know the current state of (Jermell). He’s got to come back and get a win,” said “Deep Waters” analyst Chris Algieri, a former 140-pound champion. “We’ve got to see if he still has that desire, (if he’s) working hard, coming in shape and looking to perform and win a fight.”
Algieri thought Jermall gave a good account of himself in defeating the rugged Benavidez Jr.
“They can still be a problem for a lot of these guys,” Algieri said. “I think of how good they were once upon a time and if (Jermell) can return to being close to past form … honestly, he can beat everyone of these (current middleweight champions), with Adames being a super tough out.”
The issue, Malignaggi said, is whether the Charlos share an interest in returning to who they were. Is the desire there? Can they commit again to the humble workload that a champion boxer must embrace to be great?
“If he can get back to what he was … I just don’t think he can get back to what he was,” Malignaggi said. “If (Jermell) was the guy we knew (while) unifying 154, that guy at 160 would unify those titles. The Charlo we know right now – getting arrested for domestic violence, not trying and laying a goose egg in the Canelo fight – I can’t see that guy having the motivation to get past Adames or Janibek.”
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