About two months ago, an undisputed champion was crowned in the super lightweight division when Josh Taylor scored a unanimous decision over Jose Carlos Ramirez. It was an entertaining fight and a fight that was needed in boxing.
With so much bickering between fighters about who’s the best, there are only a handful of guys that are willing to test themselves. This is why when two top fighters in their division are willing to face each other, they should be applauded.
This Saturday on Showtime in a PBC event, fans will be treated to another undisputed match up which will take place in the super welterweight division.
The fight will take place in San Antonio, Texas, at the AT&T Center. WBA, WBC, IBF, and Ring Magazine Champion Jermell Charlo will square off with WBO Champion Brian Castano.
Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (34-1, 18 KO’s) of Houston, Texas, is the top guy at the super welterweight division. Both he and his twin brother Jermall are two of the top fighters today.
Both of them are world champions (Jermall is the WBC Middleweight Champion), but it is Jermell who separates himself as being the better of the two brothers.
Jermall is not a bad fighter, but Jermell has proven himself against the top fighters of his division. Jermell Charlo won the vacant WBC title when he stopped John Jackson in eight rounds in 2017.
He followed that up with two stoppage victories against Charles Hatley and Erickson Lubin the same year.
In 2018, he defeated the experienced Austin Trout by majority decision. Then Charlo suffered his first loss by unanimous decision to Tony Harrison.
If anybody saw the fight, it was a decision that should have gone in Charlo’s favor. In 2019, Charlo wasted no time. In a tune-up fight, he stopped Jorge Cota in three rounds.
Then he got his revenge by stopping Tony Harrison in eleven rounds to regain the WBC title back. Last year, he stopped Jeison Rosario in eight rounds to add the IBF and WBA titles.
The fight was also the vacant Ring Magazine title. The fight determined who the best fighter of the division was, and that was Charlo.
Even though Charlo is the best super welterweight today, he wants to add the final piece, which is to become the undisputed champion. The final belt he needs is the WBO, which is held by Brian Castano.
Brian “El Boxi” Carlos Castano (17-0-1, 12 KO’s) of Buenos Aires, Argentina, would like to take the throne as the best super welterweight. Castano has far less professional fights than Charlo, but he is very experienced due to his amateur background.
Castano had an extensive amateur career and has wins over Errol Spence Jr and Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the amateurs. Since becoming professional, Castano moved up the rankings steadily.
Castano opened eyes in 2019 when he engaged in an entertaining battle with Erislandy Lara.
It was a fight that should have went in Castano’s favor but he had to settle with a split decision draw. This is the only blemish on Castano’s record.
Castano ended 2019 with a stoppage victory over Wale Omotoso. After a year out of the ring, he came back this year in a big showdown against Patrick Teixeira for the WBO title. Castano won the fight by unanimous decision to earn the WBO belt.
Heading to the big showdown this weekend, Charlo is the favorite to win the fight. He has fought the better opponents and he has won recent fights by knockout.
Also, Charlo will have the height and reach advantage over Castano. Most boxing experts are picking a Charlo victory either by decision or stoppage.
Charlo can explode and knockout anyone at any time. Also, we have to consider if the fight is close and goes to the cards, it will favor Charlo.
Texas is the hometown of Charlo. Hardly anyone is picking Castano to win but we should not count him out. I believe Charlo will be fighting his toughest fight up to date and the same can be said for Castano too.
This is why the fight is intriguing. Castano is a pressure fighter who can go twelve rounds. For Charlo, can he withstand the pressure of Castano in a long fight?
For Castano, can he take the power shots of Charlo? These questions will be answered come fight night.
If either fighter wins, they will make history and become the first undisputed champion at super welterweight in a four-belt era. The winner will also be considered a top pound-for-pound fighter.
