The long absence from Jermall Charlo (due to what has been speculated to be personal and/or mental health issues) has already resulted in some degree of vocal backlash, but has ramped up now rumors of Canelo Alvarez fighting Charlo have sprung up. Carlos Adames sounded off on Jermall Charlo’s current status as the WBC Middleweight champion following his stoppage victory over Julian Williams on June 24th.
Carlos Adames’ (23-1, 18 KO’s) trainer, Bob Santos, had first expressed the need for Jermall Charlo to face Adames 8 months ago after defeating Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KO’s) to capture the WBC interim title at 160 lbs.
“He has a choice; he can either give up the title, he’s going to fight us and if he fights us there’s no doubt in my mind that Carlos Adames is going to beat him,” Santos confidently maintained during the post-match press conference of Adames vs. Montiel.
“I’ve seen him in there with Caleb Plant. He’s been in there with Benavidez. I know what he’s capable of doing. They know what he’s capable of doing.“
While Jermall Charlo’s (32-0, 22 KO’s) circumstances that led to him staying out of the ring for at least 2 years have not been thoroughly expounded upon by Charlo himself or his promoter, the PBC, the American fighter has somehow managed to avoid getting stripped entirely.
The WBC, whose title he holds at Middleweight, has proven to bend the rules when needed as their own rules would justify Charlo stripped, as we explained in our feature article. Carlos Adames, however, has not shied away from holding Jermall Charlo accountable as his latest interview showed.
“This is my belt,” Adames was reported to have told ESPN . “I’m the one working. He’s not working. I’m the true champion. Charlo, he can keep running. He’s speaking with his actions so he’s moving up. He doesn’t want it. He’s chasing other things.“
If the Jermall Charlo does fight Canelo Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KO’s) like has been rumored, there would be no viable excuse left to keep his title. Though on occasion fighters have held belts in multiple divisions such as demonstrated with Alvarez himself and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the past, it is one of the most standard rules of any of the main governing bodies that fighters cannot hold belts in multiple weight divisions.
As proven with former undisputed Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO’s) himself who vacated his titles after moving up to Super Bantamweight in order to face Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO’s), it is generally not allowed for fighters to keep titles if they move to another division.
The WBC has shown a disregard for these rules by consistently allowing fighters to move up or down without needing to sacrifice any titles, as recently proven with fighters such as Rey Vargas (36-1, 22 KO’s) who briefly moved up to Super Featherweight as the WBC Featherweight champion, only to ultimately lose to O’Shaquie Foster (20-2, 11 KO’s). Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KO’s) had also been set for a fight with Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s) at 154 pounds, despite being the unified champion at Welterweight.
Carlos Adames, who noticeably has gone through several ordeals in his life himself including the passing of his daughter, has managed to stay active all while Jermall Charlo hasn’t. In essence, Adames showed the resilience of a champion by continuing on despite his personal circumstances, while Jermall Charlo has remained inactive due to personal issues without defending his title once in 2 years.
