The Charlo double header on Saturday night was likely the biggest card of 2020 and in my eyes it really delivered. The card was stacked with good fights with many of them being important to their respective divisions.
John Riel Casimero looked impressive in stopping Duke Micah and showed why so many people want him to fight Inoue. I think its likely his next fight will be versus the winner of Oubaali/Donaire which will be great as it’s a unification fight and the winner can fight whoever the other unified champ is to become undisputed and really create a legacy. Duke Micah should fight other contenders To earn himself a second world title shot.
Brandon Figueroa did what I expected him to do and beat Vazquez by stoppage in what was a very one sided fight after the 4th round. I thought Figueroa looked like his usual self and whiles he’s a fun fighter I think he probably gets hit too much to be an elite world champion. He is supposed to be fighting Ronny Rios next and I think that is a great step up fight and will be fun to watch. Vazquez needs to have a long rest as he took a lot of damage in this fight and may not be the same fighter as before. I think his corner not pulling him out earlier is a disgrace in all honesty and they are lucky nothing terrible happened because of their incompetence.
Jermall Charlo proved he belongs with the middleweight elite by beating Sergiy Derevyanchenko over 12 rounds in what may at this point be the fight of the year. I think he desperately needed a good name at middleweight as he hasn’t been able to get the big fights since he moved up to 160 pounds. I’d like him to try and fight Andrade or Eubank next as both are good opponents who he can realistically fight. It also makes sense for him as both are good enough names that he can fight them on PPV and start to build himself into being part of the new generation of PPV stars. A bout with GGG would be great but at this point of GGG’s career I think he just wants the third Canelo fight. Derevyanchenko is apparently moving down to 154 pounds where I think he can find decent success.
Daniel Roman beat Payano but didn’t look great in doing so. Payano is a very good fighter but has no real business being at 122 and is well past his best. Roman is now a secondary mandatory to Luis Nery and should that fight happen it will be great. I’m not sure where Payano goes from here as he’s clearly still a good fighter but can’t beat the top names anymore and is 36. Perhaps a bout with Rigo would be good for both guys at this stage of their careers.
Luis Nery didn’t have a great performance and if he was *working* on things like people were saying then perhaps someone should have informed him not to do it on a PPV. Compared to the normal Nery who throws a lot of punches and overwhelms his opponents this one was like a disabled rabbit hobbling along and doing just enough to win. I don’t think he was working on things as his coach Eddy Reynoso was asking him what he was doing and to pick it up. He has two mandatories next who should test him more and if he turns up like he did Saturday I think he gets beat badly. Alameda should fight other contenders and prove he’s good and that it wasn’t just Nery having an off night.
Jermell Charlo did what I predicted and stopped Jeison Rosario within 9 rounds. He looked good and clearly had a game plan that involved the knockout and nothing else. Beyond the knockdowns Rosario was winning the fight in my eyes but in the end Jermell’s world class power shone through. His chin also helped him a lot in this fight as it was very clear he could take Rosario’s punches but Rosario couldn’t take his. He has an IBF mandatory to deal with next but after that should go after the WBO champion to become undisputed. Rosario should have a break before either fighting Tony Harrison or moving up to middleweight where with his size he can have success.
Overall I really enjoyed the card and while I know a lot of people don’t like how long it lasted I enjoyed it because it just meant I could watch more boxing. I especially liked how they had three super bantamweight fights on the card which builds hype around them all to fight in the future.
Boxing Fulcrum 