NEW YORK — Jermall and Jermell Charlo saunter into a conference room at Sporting News’ New York City offices on this chilly morning, sliding into a pair of plush chairs. The identical twins could be distinguished easily, considering Jermall is rocking a pink trench coat with shades covering his eyes, while Jermell sports a green Adidas track suit hoodie with a “Charlo” dad hat. (Plus, Jermall is an inch taller than his brother).
Within seconds, they’re comfortable. But the same can’t be said for each of their respective places in boxing at the moment. Yes, the double vision you see when looking at them extends past their identical features in the form of the WBC titles draped diagonally around their shoulders; Jermall the WBC interim middleweight champion, Jermell the WBC junior middleweight champ. But these self-proclaimed lions, who live by the hashtag “#LionsOnly,” haven’t been awarded the fights they’re craving just yet. And that's enough reason for the twins from Houston to declare: Boxing, we have a problem.
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The undefeated Charlo twins are co-headlining a card Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with Jermell facing Tony Harrison in the co-main event and Jermall clashing with Matt Korobov in the main event. Both Charlos view Saturday night as setup fights to land the bouts they really want, so that they could truly mash the dash on this “takeover” they frequently discuss. And they have the tools to impose just that, with Jermall carrying surgical, heavy hands and Jermell's penchant for speed, precision and power.
“We’re here to take over in both of our divisions and that’s what we’re going to do,” Jermall tells Sporting News without flinching.
“Right now, we’re the best in the world at our weight divisions — I’m 154, he’s 160,” Jermell adds.
The twins have stalked out their next potential prey to drive that point home. Jermell (31-0, 15 KOs) is hell-bent on fighting unified junior middleweight champ Jarrett Hurd, while Jermall (27-0, 21 KOs) has been coveting a shot at unified middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
“If I had it my way, most definitely, I’d be ready to fight Canelo next,” Jermall says.
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The Houston native has reason to believe it could be him, too, considering Oscar De La Hoya said that Canelo will fight on May 4 during Cinco de Mayo weekend, but that it won’t be against Gennady Golovkin or Daniel Jacobs.
“I’m one of those candidates, I guess,” Jermall says about the sweepstakes involved in landing the fight with the current face of boxing. “I want to fight the best in the world, so hopefully they’re up for the challenge.”
Jermall caught Canelo’s drubbing of Rocky Fielding last week to win the WBA “regular” super middleweight title, but he wasn’t impressed at all.
“He fought a novice guy,” Jermall said. “He didn’t fight a dude that I feel possessed anything.”
Jermall is also aware of rumored reports that Alvarez might stay at 168 pounds to challenge WBA super middleweight champ Callum Smith next.
“If he does that, my team will figure out another way to go get him,” Jermall says, adding that he’ll move up in weight as well if that’s the only way to catch Canelo.
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But if a fight with Canelo doesn’t happen next, Jermall has other options. The WBC has reportedly been angling Gennady Golovkin as a mandatory challenger for Jermall’s title, so a clash with “GGG” could be on the docket next for the 28-year-old Charlo. There’s also the possibility of Jermall facing IBF middleweight titleholder Daniel Jacobs, as the two have had a testy confrontation in the past.
Jermall wants it to be known that he’s up for any of these fights.
“I’m on everybody’s neck right now,” Jermall said, truly tuning into a lion’s mentality. “I’ll get the shot I deserve sooner than later.”
He added: “I’m definitely willing to do whatever I have to do to stage myself around those guys and become the best in the world.”
Jermall Charlo wants his next fight to be against Canelo: pic.twitter.com/VwIUuQ5amf
— Sporting News Boxing (@sn_boxingring) December 20, 2018
Jermell is on the same page — as identical twins often are — trying to become the best in the world in his division. To prove that, Jermell has been taking aim at Jarrett Hurd, the IBF/WBA junior middleweight champion.
Following Hurd’s KO of Jason Welborn earlier this month in Los Angeles, Jermell stormed the ring, trying to force the issue to cement a unification fight, only for Hurd to tell him that he calls the shots and still wants to fight a righty boxer before taking on the Charlo twin.
That being said, Jermell believes the long-awaited 154-pound scrap finally happens in the New Year.
Jermell Charlo says a fight against Jarrett Hurd will definitely happen in 2019. pic.twitter.com/WNDNgpT591
— Sporting News Boxing (@sn_boxingring) December 20, 2018
What makes Jermell’s situation sticky is the fact that his opponent Saturday night, Harrison, is angling for the same thing — a shot at Hurd. In Harrison’s case, it’d be a rematch. Harrison took it to Hurd during the early stages of their February 2017 bout, before suffering a TKO loss. And Hurd has been on Harrison’s mind since.
“There’s nothing I want more than a f— rematch with that Jarrett Hurd,” Harrison said during Thursday’s press conference. “All roads lead to Jarrett Hurd for whoever wins this fight.”
Jermall, on the other hand, trained all this time to fight Willie Monroe Jr. only for Monroe to squander the opportunity by failing a drug test. That paved the way for middleweight contender Matt Korobov, 35, to move from the undercard to the main event on one week’s notice. The Russian fighter would love to spoil Jermall’s plans in this unexpected spot.
“Everything can change in a week … and a day,” Korobov said.
Any way you look at it, this Charlo co-headlining card has two setup fights that the twin brothers must win if they’re going to put themselves in a boxing space — surrounded by potential predators or prey — that’s truly reserved for “#LionsOnly.”
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It took a while for Jermall and Jermell Charlo to get on the same page scheduling wise, but now that they're co-headlining a card in Brooklyn on Saturday night, perhaps this is something they could continue to do as their popularity grows.
"We could be starting a new trend," Jermell tells Sporting News.
While they're going to relish fighting in the co-main event and main event in Brooklyn, the Charlo twins both said that eventually they'll co-headline a card in their home city of Houston.
As a matter of fact, plans for them to co-headline a card at the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets, didn't pan out, although Jermell says to expect something there down the line.
"It's coming," he vows. "It'll be a huge event."
While they're out of the Texas sun and bundled up in yet another unforgiving New York City winter, the Charlos' thoughts are back home for a different reason.
Leading up to his fight with Matt Korobov in the main event Saturday night, Jermall announced that for every jab he throws, he'll gift Houston youth affected by Hurricane Harvey with 10 bicycles.
"A lot of kids lost their bikes and their fun stuff," Jermall says. "This is something to put a smile on kids’ faces. It was something that was on my heart to do. If I’m the best in the world and if I have the best jab in the world, why not risk a little bit of that for someone who needs it?"
The more jabs, the more bikes.
