The Rumor Mill – Jermall Charlo in line for a title shot?
Former WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo has been linked to potential fights in the super middleweight division since his win over Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna last May in Las Vegas. Currently, Charlo is ranked number 3 in the WBA and number 9 in the WBC and is in position to compete at the top of the division. While there has been movement at the top of the division with Terence Crawford defeating Canelo Alvarez last September to become undisputed champion and then retiring months later, Charlo may have an opportunity to get a world title shot.
Crawford’s retirement meant that the titles were vacated, and that left the sanctioning bodies to make decisions as to who would fight for each belt or if they would elevate someone to be their world champion. The IBF will have Osleys Iglesias and Pavel Silyagin compete for their title on April 9th. The WBO ordered for Hamzah Sheeraz and Diego Pacheco to face each other, and we are waiting on news about that. The WBC and the WBA decided to elevate their interim champions to full champ status, which means that Christian Mbilli and Armando Resendiz are now world champions.
In a conversation last month with Mbilli after he was named world champion, he was looking to have big fights or defend his title in his hometown of Montreal. There has been some buzz that Mbilli could be the next opponent for Canelo Alvarez, but that is uncertain. For Resendiz, there was some chatter that he could have a rematch with Caleb Plant after his win over Plant. However, it seems that the rematch has not materialized. Could that mean Resendiz and Charlo could be matched up as opponents?
With Charlo being ranked number 3 in the WBA he is the highest rated fighter available for Resendiz to face. Canelo – who is ranked number 1 – is likely fighting in September and Bek Melikuziev the number 2 ranked fighter just defeated Sena Agbeko on February 21st. It leaves open the possibility that Charlo could fight Resendiz for the WBA super middleweight title. This comes after there was talk that Resendiz could have fought contender Jaime Munguia, but negotiations stalled as of last week. Now we could see Jermall Charlo step in as the opponent, with it presumably happening on May 2nd in Vegas.
Stay tuned for more as we follow this story.
Photos by Sean Michael Ham of TGB Promotions
NOTE – The Rumor Mill is part of The Boxing Source website where news on potential fights or updates on confirmed fights will be posted. There may be details on these fights or it may just be early news about fights that could be made.
