By Ian S Palmer
All of the jr. Middleweight titles will be on the line in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday, July 17th as WBC, WBA and IBF Champion Jermell Charlo of Richmond, Texas will be taking on unbeaten WBO boss Brian Castano of Argentina. The 12-rounder can be seen live in America on Showtime while those in Canada can catch it on TSN 3. Charlo last fought in September when he stopped Jeison Rosario in the eighth round to take his IBF and WBA titles. Castano last saw action in February when he took a wide 12-round unanimous decision from Patrick Teixeira for the WBO Belt.
The 30-year-old Charlo will climb into the ring with an impressive record of 34-1 with 18 Kos. He regained his WBC Belt with an 11th-round stoppage over Tony Harrison in December, 2019 after Harrison lifted it a year earlier via controversial unanimous decision. Charlo originally won the vacant title in May, 2016 when he stopped John Jackson in the eighth round and lost it to Harrison in his fourth defence.
Charlo stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 73 inches. He turned pro back in 2007 and has boxed 234 rounds since then. He doesn’t possess as much power as his twin brother Jermall as his current knockout ratio is 51.4 per cent. But one of the reasons for this could be the better grade of opponent he’s faced up to now such as Harrison, Austin Trout, John Jackson, Joachim Alcine, Vanes Martirosyan, Gabriel Rosado, Demetrius Hopkins, Harry Joe Yorgey, Charles Hatley and Erickson Lubin.
Charlo typically relies on his slick boxing skills to win fights but has enough power to stop a foe with an accumulation of well-placed and timed punches, which is what he did with former world champs Alcine and Harrison and several others. Although he has fine skills, Charlo isn’t always an overly-exciting boxer to watch. Up until meeting Harrison he was just a little too good for the opposition and the bouts didn’t result in much action or drama.
Castano is 31 years old and won the interim WBA crown in November, 2016 when he stopped Emmanuel de Jesus in the sixth round of a slugfest in which both boxers were down. He then defended the belt against Michael Soro by split decision and Cedric Vitu by 12th-round stoppage. Castano then fought to a 12-round draw with former world champion Erislandy Lara in March, 2019.
He either relinquished the belt or had it stripped from him by the WBA, depending on the version you read, but he was no longer champion regardless. Castano owns a near- perfect record of 17-0-1 and has 12 Kos under his belt. He’s got good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. He’s just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67.5-inch reach means he has a 3.5-inch height and 5.5-inch reach disadvantage.
Castano turned pro back in 2012 and has boxed a total of 108 rounds since. He’s fought the majority of his career in his homeland against numerous unrecognizable opponents, but this will be his seventh contest in the USA. Castano had a fine amateur career with several medals to his name as a welterweight and beat Errol Spence at the 2011 Pan America Games qualifying tournament. He also fought for Argentina in the World Series of Boxing and defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Prediction…
This will be the first time we’ve had a unified Jr Middleweight champion as long as this fight doesn’t end in a draw. However, that’s a distinct possibility because even though he gives up experience as well as the height and reach, Castano’s punching power and high-pressure style could cause problems for Charlo. There’s a great chance for an upset on Saturday if Castano can work his way inside and do some damage. This is a tossup to me and I’m going with Castano to retain his belt at least, by win or draw due to his energetic style.
