Jermell Charlo defeated Austin Trout by majority decision to defend the WBC junior middleweight title Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The victory marks Charlo's third title defense after winning it in 2015. His other two defenses came against Charles Hatley and Erickson Lubin.
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"I went to fish," said Charlo after the fight. "I tried to get some Trout, but I couldn't catch him on the hook. I know they're used to seeing me knock boys out, but at least they saw me take care of business."
The fight was void of any intense action as Charlo used tactical strategy and consistent offense to work out the win, baiting Austin and then capitalizing on his miscues. The first knockdown by Charlo came in the third round when he caught Trout in the head with a left hook.
The middle rounds saw a defensive Trout attempt to land punches against the more consistent Charlo, but those punches were nothing more than weak jabs. Charlo then scored another knockdown in the ninth — but the fight continued on to a slow finish with very little action.
The slow fight drew plenty of boos from the crowd at the Staples Center, and even saw Charlo get booed after his victory — most likely due to the fighting style on display. The decision was not without controversy either; Charlo should easily have won via unanimous decision, but one judge curiously scored it 113-113 for Trout while the other two scored the bout for Charlo, 118-108 and 115-111.
Charlo improves his record to 31-0 and could potentially face IBF titleholder Jarret Hurd next.