By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)
Jermell Charlo fought Brian Carlos Castano for four junior middleweight / super welterweight belts, WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF. Their previous bout ended in a split decision draw as Castano dominated most of the half of that fight and Charlo took control of the last half. Judges had Charlo winning the last three rounds of their first match which allowed the draw.
This fight started out with a feeling out process that lasted one minute and from there, it exploded into a classic fight. Both fighters adjusted as Castano jabbed more plus he shot his right hand over Charlo’s left jab. He threw an average of fifteen more punches per round than their previous bout.
Charlo in his first bout, found himself on the rope and tried to counter off the rope but this fight he spend more time in the center of the round and when he was on the rope, he was more effective with his counter.
This fight was even better than the first as more punches were thrown and even more action.
The first round saw Charlo moving and jabbing while Castano attempted to cut off the ring. Charlo landed thirteen punches versus ten for Castano. This fight was not an easy fight to score as Castano often outpunched Charlo per round, but Charlo power shots had more pop. His combination punches were more effective but in their two bouts, Castano landed more punches on Charlo than any other fighter.
Halfway through the fight, I had the bout 58-56 Charlo but Showtime Steve Farhood, had it 57-57 similar to what he had in their first fight. All of the first six rounds were close, and you could easily have had it 58-56 for Castano.
The fight took a turn in the second half as Charlo kept the fight into the middle of the ring and from there dominated the fight. I had Charlo winning the seventh, eighth and ninth plus he was winning the tenth before he ended it.
In the seventh round, both fighters failed to land double digit and Charlo kept the fight in the middle of ring but for the first time, Castano looked tired as he did not pressure Charlo as he did the first six rounds.
The fight return to the pattern of first half of the fight as Castano pressured Charlo and Charlo combinations were having more of an impact. In their first fight, Castano had the lead going into the final three rounds and Charlo needed to win the last three rounds to get a draw. In this fight, Charlo had a lead on the official cards 89-82, 88-83, 87-84. I had it 88-83 and Steve Farhood had it 87-84. The score however was not truly indicative of the closeness of the fight as Castano actually landed 194 punches to 173 punches for Charlo and had more power punches landed.
The judges like myself, noted the Charlo power punches had more snap and Castano’s face showed the effect. There were at least three punches that stunned Castano before the climatic tenth round, but never was Charlo ever in trouble from Castano’s punches.
Charlo landed a short-left hook that sent Castano down for an eight count and it was obvious that Castano legs were not steady, and the end was near. The second knockdown ended the fight.
Charlo has twice in his career fought a rematch, the first against Tony Harrison who took his title. Charlo won the rematch with an eleventh-round knockout, and he won his rematch with Castano.
Charlo is the king of the 154 pounds and there are other good fighters in the junior Middleweight including Liam Smith, Tim Tszyu, and Sebastian Fundora. For those who have not seen Fundora a 6’6” fighter who recently defeated Erickson Lubin. Then down the road, a fight between either Crawford or Spence, Jr. after they decide who is the king of the welterweight.
Charlo now controls four belts and has option and even mentioned moving up to Middleweight as another option. Charlo fight against Castano showed a fighter who could adopt and adjust his game plan accordingly, a sign of greatness.
Charlo made the necessary adjustments in the rematch with Castano. I had figured that Castano was robbed of a win in their first fight. I assumed that he would pick up from where he left off. Not quite, but the fight certainly didn’t want for 2 way action before Charlo took control!