Former champion and veteran promoter, Barry McGuigan, views Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) as the darkhorse of the middleweight division.
Charlo, who is the twin brother of current WBC junior middleweight Jermell Charlo, was a driving force at 154.
As the IBF junior middleweight champion, Charlo knocked out three of his last four opponents.
Charlo's last fight at the weight took place last December, when he knocked out his mandatory challenger Julian Williams in the fifth round of what everyone had expected to be a close fight.
Afterwards, he vacated the IBF belt and moved up to the middleweight division - where he blew out Jorge Sebastian Heiland in a WBC final eliminator for a mandatory shot at champion Gennady Golovkin, who also holds the IBF, WBA, IBO belts.
The WBC has allowed Golovkin to side-step Charlo for the moment, as they have already approved his request to hold off his mandatory obligation in order to negotiate a potential deal to fight Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez - eyed for May 5.
Charlo may potentially take part in a fight for the WBC interim-title - possibly against Hugo Centeno - and the World Boxing Council has already approved that bout, if a deal is reached.
McGuigan was very impressed with the recent win by WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, who dominated dangerous puncher David Lemieux over twelve rounds in Canada two weeks ago.
Saunders is now waiting in the wings - hoping to fight the Canelo vs. Golovkin winner.
But the man everyone should look out for at 160, says McGuigan, is Charlo.
"At middleweight we await news of the Gennady Golovkin/Saul Alvarez rematch, with Billy Joe Saunders ready to challenge the winner after his stunning WBO title defence against David Lemieux in Montreal," McGuigan told The Mirror.
"Saunders defused the punching threat of Lemieux with his clever movement. I underestimated him as much as I overstated the potential of Lemieux.
"But Golovkin and Alvarez are different gravy, capable of hunting down and they don’t miss with the big shots like Lemieux did. Though Saunders has earned his shot at the big show, the biggest threat to the ruling middleweight class could be the dangerous Jermall Charlo who has moved up from 154 to 160 pounds."
2023-10-20 06:19:33
