Antonio Tarver says Jermell Charlo got on his bike and chose to survive to keep from getting knocked out by Canelo Alvarez after he got a taste of his power early on in their mega-fight on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Tarver says Jermell (35-2-1,19 KOs) could have done things to show that he was trying to win the fight against Canelo (60-2-2,39 KOs), but he chose to go in survival mode so he could live for another day.
Antonio states that Jermell can take solace that he wasn’t knocked out by Canelo and went the distance with a moral victory.
It’s still pathetic, though, that Jermell didn’t at least try to get the win, especially given what was at stake. If Jermell had fought tooth & nail and beaten Canelo, he’d get a lucrative rematch and would make even more money than the reported $20 million that he’s getting for this fight.
The backlash that Jermell is taking from fans on social media tonight is huge, as many of them felt that he fought more like a kitten than a lion that he purports to be.
What was troubling is that Jermell was fighting timidly from round one, and there was no point in his fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo that he was fighting like he wanted to win.
The scores score reflected the route that took place, as they scored 118-109, 118-109, and 119-108.
“Yeah, he definitely got on the bicycle tonight, and he didn’t want to get knocked out. When you’re trying to be assertive and get the win, you’ll see more aggression, a little more aggression,” said Antonio Tarver to Fighthype, talking about Jermell Charlo being timid against Canelo Alvarez.
“Could have counterpunched a little bit but just didn’t want to stay there for no time and left Canelo get a shot off after he felt that power. He knew that he didn’t want to get hit with that.
“Of course,” said Tarver when asked if Jermell felt that power early from Canelo.”Sometimes, you resort to surviving. So he found a little solace on making it to the 12th round. He didn’t get knocked out, and he said that at the post-fight interview.
“So sometimes you realize that this wasn’t a smart decision to move up. ‘I’m going to live to fight another day, and I can go back down to 54. I just fought the big fish, the biggest name in the game. I didn’t get hurt so I’m still okay. I’m still good,'” said Tarver.
!["He [Jermell] didn't want to get knocked out"- Antonio Tarver on Charlo's loss to Canelo Alvarez](https://www.boxing247.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Canelo-Alvarez-vs-Jermell-Charlo-09.30.239-boxing-photo-768x512.jpg "Photo: \"He [Jermell] didn't want to get knocked out\"- Antonio Tarver on Charlo's loss to Canelo Alvarez")