Boxing News – June 27, 2019

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JUNE 27, 2019 lBOXING NEWSl 35

PREVIEWS

★★ WHOLE SHOW

Photo: ACTION IMAGES/JOHN CLIFTON

CONTENDERS

star Matvey Korobov in Brooklyn. That

fight was closer than lopsided scorecards

suggested but Charlo got the job done,

kept his unbeaten record intact, and

avoided falling victim to the underdog the

way his twin brother, Jermell, had earlier

in the night (losing to unheralded Tony

Harrison). Best of all, he stayed in the

hunt for bigger and better fights, the kind

that will hopefully one day help Charlo

become something like a household

name in America.

Beating Brandon Adams, 21-2 (13)

and the 2018 winner of The Contender

series, won’t do the trick but it will at least

keep Charlo busy and in the spotlight.

Adams, from California, was outboxed

for 10 rounds by Willie Monroe in 2014

and then knocked out in two by John

Thompson the following year. Though he

has responded well, and is now enjoying

good form, his ceiling is probably a fair

bit lower than Charlo’s at this point.

Charlo, 28-0 (21), will have to be wary

of overlooking Adams the way his brother

may have overlooked Harrison. But, if he

stays focused, he can finish matters by the

halfway mark.

In other action, Erickson Lubin, 20-1

(15), hopes to build on an impressive

win against Ishe Smith in February when

taking on Frenchman Zakaria Attou,

29-6-2 (7), over 12 rounds. Attou, a

37-year-old who competes at fringe

European title level and has yet to box in

America, will do well to last the distance

against a left-handed American with spite

in his shots.

THE VERDICT Adams will quickly

realise Charlo is a true middleweight

contender.

FOURTEEN months after he won the belt,

Jermall Charlo’s WBC middleweight

title remains one of the interim variety

and will be defended for a second time

against fellow American Brandon Adams

this Saturday ( June 29) at the NRG Arena

in Houston, Texas.

The full WBC middleweight champion

is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the controversial

but talented Mexican, and, frankly, it’s

hard to see why Charlo’s interim version

even exists given Alvarez defended

his belt in May. Still, it does, it carries

some sort of value, and for as long as

Charlo chases a fight with Alvarez it will

presumably stick around.

The belt was last defended in

December, when Charlo edged a

competitive fight against former amateur

SKILLED:

Charlo controls

Lenny Bottai with

his jab

But the WBC

‘Interim’ title

is a needless

addition to

Charlo-Adams,

writes Elliot

Worsell