Jermell Charlo became the undisputed super welterweight champion with an 10th round stoppage in an action packed rematch with Brian Castano at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
The fight was contested at a fast pace. It picked up from their July 17, 2021 draw. Charlo was very sharp by landing some good shots with both hands. Castano landed some good right hands of his own, but Charlo who did not lay on the ropes like he did in first encounter, was able to land some solid counter shots. The fight was fought on even terms over the opening half of the fight.
Charlo started the second half of the fight by beating Castano to the punch and started to forge ahead in the fight. In round ten, Charlo dropped Castano with a quick left hook to the body. Castano was hurt, and Charlo saw that. He jumped on Castano and landed a big left hook to the side that sent Castano down for a second time. Castano was clearly in no-position to continue and the fight was stopped at 2:33.
Charlo, 152.75 lbs of Houston, TX is now 35-1-1 with 19 knockouts. Castano, 153.75 lbs of Buenos Aries, ARG is 17-1-2.
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
Jaron Ennis Knocks Out Clayton in 2
Jaron Ennis took a giant step closer to a world title shot by stopping previously undefeated Custio Clayton in round two of their 12-round welterweight bout.
Ennis dominated with the jab in the opening round, and then in round two, Ennis landed a huge right to the top of the head that sent Clayton to the canvas. Clayton got up, but staggered all over the ring and the fight was stopped at 2:49.
Ennis, 146.25 lbs of Philadelphia is now 29-0 with 27 knockouts. Clayton, 146.5 lbs of Darmouth, NS, CAN is 19-1-1.
“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.
“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.”
“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.’”
Kevin Gonzalez Decisions Emanuel Rivera
Kevin Gonzalez remained undefeated by scoring a 10-round unanimous decision over Emanuel Rivera in a super bantamweight fight.
In round two, Gonzalez began to bleed from the nose.
In round seven, Gonzalez began to bleed around the right eye.
Gonzalez landed 159 of 585 punches; Rivera was 139 of 606.
Gonzalez, 121 lbs of Culican, MEX won by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 and is now 25-0-1. Rivera, 121.75 lbs of Toa Baja, PR is 19-3.
“Rivera was a quality opponent,” González said. “He and I had a classic Mexican versus Puerto Rican war and I hope that the fans enjoyed it. Bring on all the champions. I’m going to fight as soon as my promoter tells me to, in order to become the world champion I want to be.”
