Reportedly, the pound-for-pound boxing middleweight king announced his return to the ring later this year. As per ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Canelo Alvarez has declared a ‘done deal'” for defending his undefeated super middleweight title against Jermall Charlo “likely” on September 16 under the PBC banner. Alvarez will fight in May and September of next year as his three-fight contract with PBC.
Canelo Alvarez is set to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship vs. Jermall Charlo, likely on Sept. 16, sources tell @MikeCoppinger.
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) June 22, 2023
It’s a three-fight deal for @Canelo with PBC, per sources, the other two fights expected to take place in May and September 2024. pic.twitter.com/g9itXutabH
In a recent development, Alvarez had shown interest in fighting Bivol, but with no mutual agreement between the two, Alvarez chose to fight Jermall Charlo as his next opponent. While speaking to The DAZN Boxing Show, Eddie Hearn said that this fight with Charlo would be a frontrunner right now. He also added that they reached out to Alvarez’s manager as they were ready to take on Dmitry Bivol, but they couldn’t get it over the line just yet. (Via – BleacherReport)
Charlo recently fought in May 2021, taking a unanimous decision against Juan Macias Montiel. If the two boxers meet, Charlo will almost certainly step up to super middleweight to face Canelo for the undisputed 168-pound titles.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermall Charlo: Head to Head
Standing tall at 6’1ft, Charlo has the upper hand when it comes to going against Alvarez, who stands at 5ft 8in. Also, with a margin of 3 and a half inches of reach difference, Charlo gets the advantage over Alvarez, who has a reach of 70½″ inches (179cm) whereas Charlo stands at 73 and 1/2 inches/185cm.
Charlo recently got in the ring with Brian Castano for a second time earlier in May. In Round 10, Charlo delivered a blow that caused Castano to go to the ground on an extended knockdown. While Castano survived the count, Charlo charged forward with a fight-ending barrage that included an uppercut and a left hook to the body. The contest concludes a two-bout competition in which both men show amazing heart and technique, but finishes with Charlo having four world championships at 154 pounds.
Alvarez vs Charlo: Boxing records
Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) follows off a strong unanimous decision victory over John Ryder in his native city of Guadalajara, Mexico, just last month. Upon his defeat to Dmitry Bivol in May 2022 in his unsuccessful effort to climb up a weight class and grab the WBA (Super) light heavyweight championship, he made his second consecutive defense of his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight title.
On the other hand, Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) has been the WBC middleweight champ since 2019, and he was formerly the IBF light middleweight champion. He hasn’t competed since June 2021, when he won a unanimous decision against Juan Macias Montiel in order to keep his title. In his career spanning thirteen years, this is going to be his first bout at 168 pounds. Fans might be disappointed by this news, as Canelo could have gotten more attention in a rematch with Dmitry Bivol or against David Benavidez.
‼️ Canelo Alvarez vs Jermall Charlo is now OFFICIALLY A DONE DEAL for September for the undisputed super middleweight championship of the world. pic.twitter.com/nN3yeqFBep
— Edgar Alvarez (@EdgarAlvarezzzz) June 22, 2023
Jermall Charlo is bigger and a more than worthy opponent for Alvarez as he has the better reach advantage but Alvarez seems to be at the pinnacle of his career as well. Only time will tell who conquers the other.
