Jermell Charlo Wins Undisputed Crown With A KO Victory In A Thriller

We now have a new undisputed junior middleweight champion, and his name is Jermell Charlo (35-1-1). In what was an incredible fight, Charlo earns a tenth-round TKO victory over Brian Castano (17-1-2).

Charlo led with a left jab in the opening round and followed it with a double left hook to the body. Castano was working the left jab to the body and landed two big left hooks, which landed and made Charlo stumble back.

The second round saw Charlo landing some clean shots early, but then Castano came on late in the round. This is where Castano started to smother Charlo and ended the round by landing a hard left jab. Round three followed, and Charlo was landing the left jab effectively, but Castano was putting constant pressure on him. Castano would get the better of the exchanges on the inside, making Charlo smile after being hit with a clean shot.

Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime

This was when the blood-thirsty fans of Carson got their money’s worth. In round four, both men connected with left hooks simultaneously, but they went blow for blow towards the end of the round. The crowd went absolutely nuts. If that round wasn’t enough, the fifth had Charlo in some trouble, but then Jermell landed a hard right uppercut that rocked Castano. Charlo seemed to have Castano in trouble, but then here he comes right back. It was an incredible round.

In the sixth, the right hands of Castano were landing but so was Charlo’s. The right uppercut by Charlo made its presence felt again in this round which buzzed Castano. In round seven, Charlo dominated by leading with the left jab and following it up with the overhand right. Castano tried to flurry towards the end of the round, but Charlo was able to use excellent footwork to get away from it.

Rounds eight through ten were close. Charlo was landing the 1-2 down the middle, and Castano kept working his lead overhand right with a ton of success.

Jermell Charlo showed tonight why he is not the king of the division. Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime

Upon reaching the tenth round, you knew that someone’s body would eventually give in as these two fighters were exchanging bombs all night. Jermell Charlo landed a left hook which knocked down Castano for the first time in the fight. Castano did beat the count, but he was on extremely shaky legs. Then Charlo rushed in with an overhand right, but it was the hard left hook to the head and then to the body, which finished off Castano. Charlo put on the type of performance that will get him into that P4P conversation.

After the fight, the now undisputed junior middleweight champion had this to say “I listened to my corner this time. 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. This is legacy. This is something that is legendary. I’m a legend. This is a beautiful thing. They’re going to keep putting them in there. When you’re at the top like this, you get a bunch of mandatories. You get a bunch of No. 1 guys so you just have to prepare for it and be ready at all times.”

Jaron “Boots” Ennis scores a huge second round TKO victory

Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime

Jaron “Boots” Ennis (29-0) continues to make everyone believe he is a fighter who can contend for a title right now. He started the fight in the southpaw stance, which seemed like it gave Custio Clayton (19-1-1) problems right from the start. The right jab was fast, and the straight left came right behind it. When Clayton would throw punches and miss, Ennis would just smile and shake his head. In the second round, Ennis switched back to conventional, and with a lead left jab, he followed with a straight right hand that landed right above Clayton’s ear. Clayton beat the ten count but then stumbled onto the ropes, making the referee stop the fight. Jaron “Boots” Ennis earns the second-round TKO victory.

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨@JaronEnnis with the Round 2 KO! #EnnisClayton #CharloCastano2 pic.twitter.com/WNjfbALjkz

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) May 15, 2022

The undefeated Ennis had this to say after the fight “I’m just trying to perfect my craft and get better and better each and every time. That’s what I’ve been doing. Just working on things and doing what I need to do. And that’s getting the knockout. I keep telling ya’ll every single time, you know my slogan. We’re in and out like a robbery. We don’t get paid for overtime. He had a high guard so I was trying to come around with the right hook. 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.’

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever lost a round. You have to check BoxRec. I don’t think I have though. But we’ll check BoxRec and I’ll let ya’ll know. Anybody can get it right now. But I’m the IBF No. 1 contender and I think ‘Mr. Big Fish’ is here himself, so it’s time to go fishing.”

Kevin Gonzalez earns UD victory in Showtime’s opening bout

Kevin Gonzalez (25-0-1) made his U.S debut in an arena that has a history of hosting some of boxing’s biggest wars. With that being said, I don’t think Gonzalez thought he would be one in his debut fight in Carson, CA, but he certainly was with Emanuel Rivera (19-3).

In the first round, Gonzalez was caught off guard by the speed and counter-punching ability of Rivera. As the fight moved into the middle rounds, it was clear that when Gonzalez was in close, he was able to smother Rivera and find success. For Rivera, the mid-range is what was working, and his counter left hook was catching Gonzalez and, at times would stun him.

Kevin Gonzalez landing a left hook on Emanuel Rivera. Photo Credit: Stephanie Trapp/Showtime

Rounds six through eight were close rounds as Rivera seemed to win them, but Gonzalez was landing more of the clear and effective shots. They went blow for blow in round nine and got the crowd up on their feet. In the last round, Gonzalez seemed like he got the better of Rivera, and the fight ended up in the judges’ hands. The scorecards read 96-94, 97-93 & 98-92, all for the winner, Kevin Gonzalez.

You can follow Abe on Twitter @abeg718 and subscribe to “The Boxing Rush Hour Show” podcast on all streaming platforms.