Jermall Charlo was among the many boxers under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner who were aggressively pursued by other promoters in recent years, but—along with twin brother Jermell—were also among the many who’ve remained fiercely loyal to the company they already keep.
As rewarding as has been the relationship through the years, Jermall Charlo has seen a series of firsts in 2019. It was a year where he officially became a two-division titlist—even if by default as he was upgraded from interim to full middleweight title claimant—along with also receiving his first televised hometown showcase, which came in a 12-round virtual shutout of Brandon Adams this past June in Houston, Texas.
Saturday’s title defense versus Dennis Hogan (28-2-1, 7KOs—which airs live on Showtime from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York—will come with the co-promotional branding of Lions Only Promotions, a company run by the Charlo twins. Whereas other boxers have carried their own shell companies, Lions Only officially went boots to the ground with a fully promoted show this past October in Houston, an 11-bout show headlined by locally based rising prospect Darwin Price (16-0, 9KOs).
“Lions Only is going worldwide,” Charlo (29-0, 21KOs) insisted of the company he shares with his twin brother. “Lions Only is everywhere. When you hear Lions Only you think of some ferocious boxers who stand up and they want it all. So, to be underneath that banner, to put on our own show, it means a lot to see other fighters coming up from beneath us.
“Me and my team have done a great job of letting the world know what Lions Only meant to us so we have a great following outside of us being the competitors.”
The October show also came with PBC branding, streaming live on the outfit’s YouTube channel and with plans to build in 2020 and beyond. It’s the type of ownership that the Charlo twins weren’t necessarily assured by other platforms, even if the world’s more prominent middleweights reside elsewhere.
Still, the allure of bigger fights alone—which was never guaranteed, anyway—mattered little when there already exists a platform to continue to build his own brand.
“It’s not about our platform. It’s not about any of that,” clarified Charlo. “I’m the WBC champ. I’m supposed to be able to call some shots and make my moves the way I make my moves. I have got the best team behind me. My manager has done a great job up to this point.
“I’m loyal so I’m going to continue to keep my loyalty and I’m going to continue to win and I’m going to prosper.”
–boxingscene.com
