By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo of Richmond, Texas will be meeting Juan Macias Montiel of Mexico in Houston, Texas this Saturday, June 19th, 2021. The 12-round bout can be seen live in America on Showtime while fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 3. Montiel last fought in December when he stopped James Kirkland in 116 seconds. Charlo’s last outing resulted in a unanimous decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in September.
Charlo is a former IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion who defended the belt three times after winning it by stopping Cornelius Bundrage in the third round in September, 2015. The 31-year-old enters the contest with a perfect record of 31-0 along with 22 Kos. He stands 6-feet-tall and has a reach of 73.5 inches. Charlo’s on quite a roll as he’s stopped 20 of his last 25 opponents and won the interim WBC Middleweight Title in April, 2018 when he stopped Hugo Centeno Jr in the second round.
Charlo has 159 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and this will be his seventh contest as a middleweight. He has fine power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 71 per cent. However, it could be argued that the only upper level boxers he’s met so far have been Derevyanchenko, Julian Williams, Matt Korobov, Austin Trout and Bundrage, who was 42 years old when Charlo beat him for the title. Charlo doesn’t always take on elite level boxers but has been overpowering just about everybody he’s faced lately.
The champion has displayed fine speed and boxing skills but his chin has yet to be really tested. He’s a strong, offensive-minded boxer who would rather his fights didn’t reach the scorecards. His only other notable win so far has been against Antwone Smith. And although he’s beaten a world champion in Bundrage and former world champion in Trout, Charlo hasn’t proven to the fans to be a world-class boxer as of yet but his win over Derevyanchenko definitely pointed him in the right direction.
Montiel is 27 years old and also carries plenty of power with a record of 22-4-2 with all 21 wins coming by way of knockout for a current knockout ratio of 78.8 per cent. He’s boxed 94 rounds since making his pro debut in 2009 when he was just a 16 year old. His first loss was a four-round majority decision to Rodrigo Escalante in 2010 and he dropped a nine-round split decision to Alejandro Barrera in 2015 in a shot at vacant WBA Fedecentro Welterweight Title.
He then lost an eight-round split decision to Jhony Montano in 2016 and was stopped in his next bout in the second round by Jaime Munguia. His two draws came with Josue Perez over six rounds in 2012 and against Hugo Centeno Jr. In 2019. Montiel is six-feet-1-inch tall with a 70-inch wingspan which gives him an inch edge in height on Charlo with basically the same reach. His biggest wins so far have been against the likes of Kirkland, Marco Reyes and Ivan Montero.
Prediction…
Montiel has the power to do some damage to Charlo, but of course he needs to connect to do so, or perhaps needs to make sure he lands first in this fight. Charlo is the better boxer with power of his own and while he should retain his belt, he needs to be wary of Montiel’s power and make sure he doesn’t take him lightly. This has the potential to be an upset, but I think Charlo manages to keep his belt.
