A critical look at the past week in boxing
GOOD
The Charlo twins had questions to answer on Saturday night.
Jermall Charlo hadn’t faced a significant test in three-plus years as a middleweight. How would he do against an opponent, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who was deemed at least roughly his equal? Is he as good at 160 pounds as he was at 154?
Jermell Charlo was up against a foe, Jeison Rosario, who was believed to be as strong as he is and could punch as hard. Could he outslug the rugged Dominican?
And, in a more general sense, this was the brothers’ first foray on pay-per-view. How would they handle that kind of spotlight?
Well, if you’re a fan of the Charlos, you couldn’t have been much more pleased with the answers they provided at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.
Jermall (31-0, 22 KOs) fought with the poise of a seasoned, confident champion, controlling the fight with his jab and withstanding the inevitable pressure applied by Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs) to win a wide decision.
The scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112, which means he defeated “The Technician” more convincingly than 160-pound stalwarts Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin did. One can’t draw a concrete conclusion from that comparison but it sure makes Charlo look good.
One could argue that he’s now the top middleweight in the world, assuming Canelo Alvarez is finished with the division. That’s special.
Jermell (34-1, 18 KOs) destroyed Rosario, who was coming off his spectacular knockout of Julian Williams. Charlo put Rosario (20-2-1, 14 KOs) down in the first and sixth rounds and then ended the fight with a jab to the gut in the eighth that gave the younger of the twins all four junior middleweight belts. Of course, that means he’s the top man at 154.
The Charlos have been highly respected for some time. However, on Saturday, they took a significant step in their careers. They demonstrated that they’re not only the best in their respective divisions, they’re among the best of any weight.
***
BAD
One would be hard-pressed to find fault in the Charlos’ performances. Let’s just say they were imperfect, as almost every performance is.
Jermall’s showing against Derevyanchenko was methodical and thorough, which any trainer would find perfectly acceptable, especially against an opponent as skillful and durable as Derevyanchenko. The man has gone 36 competitive rounds with Jacobs, Triple-G and now Charlo, for God’s sake.
And Charlo was active. He threw 627 punches, according to ShoStats. That’s 52 punches per round, which is solid for a middleweight.
That said, I wouldn’t use the word “spectacular” to describe his performance. I was waiting for something to take it to the next level – a huge shot, a knockdown, something that would’ve punctuated his fine night. It never happened.
Again, Charlo deserved the “A” he gave himself after the fight. He was just a big punch or two away from an “A+”.
Jermell scored three knockdowns and stopped a hot rival in dramatic fashion. That’s also an “A” in my book. I believe he has room for improvement, though.
The undisputed 154-pound champ has been outboxed in the past. For example, he was well behind on the cards against John Jackson when he stopped him in the eighth round. And, more recently, he lost a decision to Tony Harrison.
Charlo’s problem – if that’s what it is – might be more about activity than ability. He tends to be passive at times. He might argue that he’s setting up big shots – and he probably is – but he could be losing rounds in the process.
He threw only 242 punches against Rosario, less than 35 per round. Rosario threw around 50 per round, which is one reason he was still in the fight after seven rounds even though he’d been knocked down twice.
Judge Steve Weisfeld had it 66-65 for Charlo, or four rounds to three for Rosario. The other two scored it 67-64 for Charlo, four rounds to three for him.
The point is that Charlo might want to be a busier fighter going forward because he’s not going to knock out or even knock down everyone.
***
WORSE
The biggest surprise on the pay-per-view card might’ve been the performance of Luis Nery.
The Mexican, who has been working with trainer Eddy Reynoso, entered his fight with relative unknown Aaron Alameda with the reputation and track record of a monstrous puncher. On paper, this matchup seemed to be a brutal knockout waiting to happen.
But it didn’t.
Alameda (25-1, 13 KOs) deserves some credit for that. Nery’s countryman obviously has a solid skillset and he’s durable, which served him on Saturday. He would be a credible opponent for any 122-pounder.
Another problem for Nery might’ve been weight. He had stopped other 122-pounders in recent years but he didn’t seem to have unusual power against Alameda. Maybe he will have lost some of his pop at junior featherweight.
To his credit, Nery (31-0, 24 KOs) relied on his boxing skills to win the fight and a major title in a second division by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113. I thought the first score was far too wide but Nery deserved the nod.
At the same time, the perception of Nery will have changed significantly from one fight to the next. He was seen by some as the type of fighter who could climb onto pound-for-pound lists one day. He didn’t look the part on Saturday.
To be fair, it was only one fight. And he won, which is the objective. Maybe it was an off night. I thought of Jose Ramirez’s so-so performance against Viktor Postol as I watched Nery on Saturday, and I certainly haven’t written off Ramirez.
We’ll probably get a better handle on where Nery stands in his next fight.
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