Jermall Charlo has once again drawn some concerns following a video that has circulated the internet of him making an alleged drunken call-in appearance on social media star Adin Ross’ livestream. With Charlo having most recently fought on November 25th after a layoff out of the ring of more than two years, concerns surrounding his mental health―something he had reportedly been dealing with during his absence from boxing―have now been elevated following his recent appearance.
Calling in to Adin Ross’ livestream while allegedly inebriated, Jermall Charlo (33-0, 22 KO’s) raised many alarm bells when the American WBC middleweight champion asked for money in exchange for a commentating gig for a “YouTube” or social media fight card that Adin Ross has planned for March.
“Ey, ey, ey, ey, throw me and my homie the bag and we straight, you hear me?” Charlo can be heard saying, referring to him and an associate being paid for commentating on Adin Ross’ upcoming boxing event.
The short and edited video clip proceeds to delve into a section where Ross seeks to explain that he doesn’t pay for commentating and that other boxers, including Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s), have collaborated with him without requiring payment. Charlo, whilst allegedly in a drunken state, went on to make his case to be recompensed for a potential commentating job.
“I’m not Gervonta [Davis]. It’s bigger than that.” Charlo responded.
When Ross sought to politely deflect the conversation to be held off-camera, Charlo again instigated some unease regarding his state of mind as he continued to advocate for himself.
“I ain’t asked for a whole bunch of money, or nothing.” Charlo said.
While Adin Ross, a popular figure on social media, has interacted with other fighters before, Jermall Charlo’s appearance seemed to mainly draw concerns due to his behavior being reminiscent of a beggar’s.
Charlo’s recent conduct does not reflect well on the sport being he is as an active world champion, and is expected to be at least mentally stable enough not to call into a social media’s livestream while allegedly inebriated―all to ask for money in exchange for commentating.
Moreover, Jermall Charlo has had similar alleged inebriated or distasteful interactions in public before, particularly the incident that saw him get slapped by former WBO super middleweight champion Caleb Plant (22-2, 13 KO’s), harkening back to his complete lack of readiness to compete in any professional fight.
This latest incident is just one of a long list of questionable behavior shown by the WBC champion that would have warranted Jermall Charlo being stripped of his WBC middleweight title due to concerns of his wellbeing. By any standards, any other professional boxer would have long since been forced to relinquish their title for not competing for longer than a year.
In the case of injuries, champions still get tend to get stripped if the duration of their injury will leave them unable to fulfill their obligations as a champion―as evident when Savannah Marshall (13-1, 10 KO’s) was placed as the WBC champion-in-recess over an injury she suffered during training.
With their inability to strip Jermall Charlo after a long absence from the ring and concerns regarding his mental health, the WBC seems to have drawn a line between physical injuries and issues that revolve around a fighter’s mental state of mind. As mental issues are more complicated than physical ailments, Carlo’s continued reign as a WBC champion can have untold consequences on the sport itself as reflected by his most recent interaction with Adin Ross who has a large public audience of impressionable youth that may be turned away from boxing, rather than the opposite.
Charlo’s November 25th return saw the inexplicable tenure of him as a WBC champion continue, despite him having fought at a catchweight several pounds higher than the 160 lbs division he remains a champion in; all while he received an exemption to not defend his WBC title against Jose Benavidez Jr. (28-3-1, 19 KO’s) who he went on to beat by unanimous decision.
And with rumors of Jermall Charlo becoming Canelo Alvarez’ (60-2-2, 39 KO’s) next opponent for May 4th this year, it is extremely concerning to see a boxer still dealing with his personal demons compete in a potential title bout on the highest level, as a fighter is supposed to be in the best physical as well as mental shape given the damage they can sustain during combat.
With the WBC refusing to apply the simple solution of stripping Charlo of his title like they did with his twin brother, Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KO’s), pressure now mounts on the sanctioning body to take action and prevent a potential tragedy from occurring on the ring―or at least prevent the sport from being regarded as a charade or circus show.
