The most interesting thing about Juan Macias Montiel going into his title challenge of Jermall Charlo on Saturday might be a single statistic: All 22 of his victories have come by knockout.
Is the unbeaten middleweight champion concerned? Not for a second. He points to Montiel’s level of opposition and scoffs.
“Stop with the shenanigans,” Charlo said at the final news conference before the fight at Toyota Center in Houston, his hometown. “The 22 knockouts that he had, you have to go back and look at the resume. He knocked out James Kirkland. James Kirkland is done. What are you saying?
“The other knockouts he had, they were from Mexico somewhere. They never fought before. You have to think about what you’re saying.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AtDUU-du4A
Montiel (22-4-2, 22 KOs) stopped the 37-year-old James Kirkland less than two minutes into the first round in December, his most-recent fight. He drew with veteran Hugo Centeno Jr. in his previous outing.
And those were the Mexican’s only fights outside his native country.
Charlo is coming off a wide decision over the highly respected Sergiy Derevyanchenko in September, arguably the best victory of his career. And, in 2018, he stopped Centeno in two rounds.
“You’re only as good as your last fight,” Charlo said. “I fought Derevyanchenko in my last fight, he fought James Kirkland. There’s levels. And I get a chance to show the level I’m at on Saturday.”
All that said, Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) insists that he isn’t overlooking Montiel.
He acknowledged that Montiel is “strong.” And he recognizes that title challengers generally work harder than they ever have before. To wit, Montiel said he has never had a training camp like this one.
The last thing Charlo wants to do is slip up in front of his hometown fans.
“Ya’ll think I’m overlooked him?” he said. “… I put my life on the line every time I get in the ring. I didn’t overlook this dude.”
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