WBC Middleweight World Champion Jermall Charlo (32-0) has finally announced his return to the ring. Jermall Charlo last competed on 19 June 2021 where he successfully defended his WBC Middleweight crown against Juan Macias Montiel, winning almost every round in the bout. Since then 33 year old Charlo has been completely inactive, failing to box and failing to defend his WBC Middleweight crown.
Jermall Charlo will return on 25 November 2023 on the undercard of David Benavidez vs Demetrius Andrade. ‘The Hit Man‘ will compete in a 10 round contest against Jose Benavidez Jr. as the co-main event. The announcement from his promoters Premier Boxing Champions state the bout is a non-title WBC special event. ‘El Phoenix’ Benavidez Jr (28-2-1) won his last bout, but lost to Danny Garcia and Terence Crawford, as well as drawing with Francisco Torres in between. In Benavidez Jr’s. last 4 bouts, he has 1 win, 2 losses and a draw.
Jose Benavidez Jr. does not hold a top 15 ranking with any major governing body, although he is ranked 25 by BoxRec. Jermall Charlo has no BoxRec ranking due to inactivity.
The current WBC Top 15 Middleweight Rankings have Gennady Golovkin as number 1. Brits featuring in the rankings include Chris Eubank Jr (3), Hamzah Sheeraz (5), Liam Smith (8) and Liam Williams (9), and Denzel Bentley (12).
In fairness to Jermall Charlo none of the British opponents ranked in the top 10 would have been suitable. Hamzah Sheeraz is set to face Liam Williams, Liam Smith is still recovering from a Eubank Jr. loss, and Eubank Jr. is chasing other bouts. WBC ranked number 2 Middleweight Meiirim Nursultanov and number 4 Maciej Sulecki do not have scheduled bouts.
Charlo vs Benavidez Jr takes place on Saturday 25 November 2023 on PPV. There is currently no UK distributor for the PPV. The card follows Cameron vs Taylor 2, which you can find details on below.