In a history-making performance, Jermell Charlo again showed he’s the master of the rematch. Unified WBC, WBA and IBF World Champion Jermell Charlo picked up the WBO title with a dramatic tenth-round KO of Brian Castaño in a rematch of their 2021 masterpiece to become the first ever undisputed male 154-pound champion in the four-belt era on Saturday, May 14 live on SHOWTIME from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.
The bout, which was another Fight of the Year-type encounter, headlined a Premier Boxing Champions event before an announced crowd of 7,406.
The end came when Charlo (35-1-1, 18 KOs) dropped Castaño with a short, left hook as he was fighting off the ropes with around a minute left in the tenth. Castaño (17-1-2, 12 KOs) rose on unsteady legs and was allowed to continue and Charlo jumped on him, landing a vicious left to the head and body that caused Castaño to collapse and referee Jerry Cantu to wave off the bout at 2:33 of the tenth.
Saturday’s ending was reminiscent of the way Charlo closed his fight with Tony Harrison in their 2019 rematch when he KO’d Harrison in the 11th round after Harrison dethroned him in 2018.
Charlo, 31, is trained by Derrick James, who helped orchestrate Errol Spence Jr.’s 10th round stoppage of Yordenis Ugas to pick up a third welterweight title on April 16 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Charlo and Castaño went toe-to-toe for 12 grueling rounds the first time they fought on July 17, 2021 on SHOWTIME, with the back-and-forth tilt ending in a split-decision draw. Charlo didn’t leave it in the judges’ hands on Saturday.
“This is legacy,” Charlo said in the ring afterward. “This is something that is legendary. I’m a legend. I knew Castaño was going to give it his all. I knew I had trained very, very hard but you all can see that I came in at 152 pounds because I was really in shape, and I wanted to make sure that this was my fight.”
The rematch was previously announced to take place on March 19 but was rescheduled after Castaño suffered an arm injury in training. The delay angered Charlo, who accused Castaño of gamesmanship in the run-up.
But the two shook hands and praised the other’s tenacity on Saturday after sharing the ring for a combined 22 rounds.
“We showed that we are warriors,” Castaño said. “We both were fighting back-and-forth. He’s a champion. He hit me. He got me. But I’m okay.”
Castaño again caused the rematch to start later than scheduled when he arrived late to the arena on Saturday night, pushing back the start of the match. Instead of fighting angry and impatiently, Charlo produced a calm, clinically efficient and ultimately punishing performance.
“I don’t care about being late,” Charlo said. “I don’t care about who’s early. I knew once I got to this arena, and I’m fighting outside in this beautiful place, I had to get it on.”
Expecting Castaño to fight aggressively and apply pressure, Charlo boxed effectively off his back foot, utilizing a hard jab and a counter-left that repeatedly found its target, none more violently than the final moments of the match.
Just like the first match, Castaño again landed a number of overhand rights and was successful in spots with his constant pressure. The fight was again fought at a torrid pace with both fighters hurting the other. But just like in the first fight, when Charlo gathered strength as the fight went on and won the final three rounds on all the judges’ scorecards, Charlo again wrested control of the bout in the late stages on Saturday.
“I listened to my corner this time,” he said. “I got in my bag around the seventh round. I started sitting down a little bit more instead of boxing so much and moving around. I saw that he was wearing down a little bit and I was breaking him down. I just saw my punches being more effective. I get stronger in the later rounds if they didn’t know.”
The event was promoted by TGB Promotions and Lions Only Promotions.
CO-FEATURE
In what was supposed to be the toughest test of his career, Jaron “Boots” Ennis again made a mockery of pre-fight expectations, stopping the previously undefeated Custio Clayton via a second-round stoppage in an IBF welterweight title eliminator in the telecast co-feature in another scintillating performance from the Philly fighter.
After pushing Clayton back with jabs, Ennis, 24, landed a sweeping right hand to the top of Clayton’s head behind his ear that caused the Canadian to crumple to the canvas. Clayton, a former Olympian known for his durability, tried to get up but was still dizzy from the punch and fell back down again. He finally managed to get to his feet and beat the count, but stumbled into the ropes, causing referee Ray Corona to mercifully wave the fight off at 2:49 of the second round.
Following the match, Ennis called out unified champion Errol Spence Jr., who was ringside. Ennis improved to 29-0 with 27 knockouts while Clayton suffered his first defeat, dropping to 19-1-1 with 12 knockouts.
“Anybody can get it right now,” Ennis said. “But I’m the IBF No. 1 contender and I think ‘Mr. Big Fish’ is here himself, so it’s time to go fishing,” he said referencing Spence’s nickname.
Spence responded, smiling as he commented on another dominant and electric performance from Ennis and another unsuccessful showing from an Ennis opponent.
“He’s doing what he’s supposed to do,” Spence told Jim Gray of SHOWTIME. “He’s supposed to call me and everybody out and say I want to fight them. If he wasn’t hungry like that, like the guy he just fought. I don’t feel like he was hungry. I don’t feel like he wanted to fight.
“Ennis can fight,” Spence went on. “I’m very high on him. He’s got the right attitude. He’s got the right team behind him with him and his dad. He’s going to go a long way. But I heard him say he wants to reel me in. You might catch something you don’t want so don’t try too hard trying to reel me in.”
Ennis, who previously stopped veteran contender Thomas Dulorme in the first round back in October, took control from the opening bell, unleashing a steady diet of jabs to Clayton’s face and body. With Clayton moving backward for the entire round, unable to respond, frozen by Ennis’ speed, the 24-year-old began to open up with rights and lefts while switching from righty to lefty as Clayton covered up.
“He had a high guard, so I was trying to come around with the right hook,” Ennis said. “He leaned down and I just threw an overhand. I thought he was going to get up. He’s a durable, tough guy. Nobody has ever stopped him. I thought he was going to get up, but I saw he fell again, so I was like, ‘this is over.’”
Ennis dedicated the fight to Jackson Ramirez, a 7-year-old who lives just outside of Pittsburgh and has a genetic disease called IPEX syndrome, which requires a bone marrow transplant for his only chance of survival.
Because of his mixed ethnicity – white and Mexican – finding a match for a marrow transplant for Ramirez is a challenge. After reading about the boy, Ennis reached out to his family and is now in close contact with Ramirez, speaking to him and making it one of his goals to raise awareness about the boy’s situation to find a match and to increase donor diversity.
