Jermall Charlo says his plans are to defeat his tune-up opponent Thomas LaManna on May 31st, beat Caleb Plant, and then end his career against Canelo Alvarez. It sounds like a pipe dream.
(Credit: Michael Ham/Premier Boxing Champions)
Activity Issues
The 34-year-old Charlo faces LaManna (39-5-1, 18 KOs) in a 10-round fight on the Caleb Plant vs. Jose Armando Resendiz on PBC on Prime Video at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. That’ll be Jermall’s first action since his 10-round decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. on November 25, 2023.
He was coming off a two-year layoff for that fight, and supposedly, he was going to keep busy. That didn’t happen. So, here we are two years later, and Charlo is coming back again, and saying the same things as he did last time about how he will stay busy. How can anyone believe in him?
Charlo must have preserved enough of his game in the four mostly dormant years to have a shot at beating Plant to get the Canelo payday. He hasn’t performed well since his win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2020. The only two fights Jermall has had since were lackluster performances against Juan Macias Montiel and Jose Benavidez Jr.
Presumably, Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) would be retiring due to the payday being so huge in the Canelo fight that they wouldn’t want to continue fighting. He’s already been living well off the money he banked in his career, so for him to fight just once since 2021.
Retirement Goal
“Now that I got the team that I’ve wanted, this Jermall Charlo beats Canelo. That’s off of technique and natural ability,” said Jermall Charlo to the media when asked if he thinks he can get a fight against Canelo Alvarez if he beats Thomas LaManna and Caleb Plant. “That’s the fight next. That’s the fight that ends my career,” said Jermall about getting him potentially getting a fight against Canelo if he defeats Plant.”
Even if Jermall does defeat journeyman and Caleb Plant, that doesn’t mean Canelo is going to waste his time fighting him. There are a lot more fighters who are younger, more active, and better known by the younger fans. Charlo has been too inactive for the young fans to know who he is. All they know is he’s the guy with the glazed eyes and the slurred speech, who doesn’t look or sound right.
It’s likely going to take a lot more than beating Plant and LaManna for Charlo to get that retirement payday against Canelo. He’s going to have to beat some of the younger, relevant fighters, like Christian Mbilli, Diego Pacheco, Edgar Berlanga, and Osleys Iglesias. Do I think Jermall can beat those guys? No, not one of them. The Jermall that we saw against Benavidez Jr. and Montiel loses to all of those fighters.
Facing Plant
“I want to fight him [Plant]. I’m back,” said Charlo. “I’m comfortable now. You get in your little toxic moments, and I made my mistake. I paid for them, but I never was weak. Even when I was going through my s***, I would get up, run, and go train. I have a boxing gym bigger than this theater at my house [mansion].”
Beating Plant won’t prove that Jermall is back because he’s nothing special either. That guy hasn’t beaten anyone notable since losing to Canelo in 2021. Plant fought one good opponent in the last four years, David Benavidez, and lost. The other two guys Plant beat were scrubs, Trevor McCumby and 39-year-old Anthony Dirrell.
“I could get up and go work out anytime I want. So, that’s something I kept doing. I knew it was going to make me get better,” said Charlo.”I was going to bounce back, and then I would have a fallback. There are ups and downs in life. Its about how you bounce back. One thing I can say is I’m back. On May 31st, I’m going to show y’all that I’m back. I’m going to give y’all what I have to present to y’all,” said Charlo.
Last Updated on 05/07/2025
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