Undisputed super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo will dare to be great when he jumps up two weight classes to challenge Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight championship on September 30 in Las Vegas.
It’s a tall task but if Charlo is able to pull it off, will he ascend to the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in boxing?
MORE: Everything you need to know about Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo
Probably not.
Unless he does something that his potential future rival did just a few weeks ago.
Why Jermell Charlo won’t be the #1 pound-for-pound fighter if he beats Canelo
There’s no denying that Charlo moving up two weight classes to dethrone the current face of boxing and a longtime staple atop the fictional pound-for-pound list will be a tremendous feat, but just winning the fight won’t be enough for Charlo to pass the man who has a stranglehold on the top spot: Terence Crawford.
Of course, the first argument in favor of Charlo dethroning Crawford would be that the fighter from Omaha didn’t jump up two weight classes to challenge the current undisputed champion. However, there are a few things that could hinder Charlo from shooting past his Crawford.
For starters, Charlo’s record is a little shaky when compared to Crawford's. While some will say that Crawford faced a similar level of opposition before he steamrolled Errol Spence Jr. to become the first male boxer in the four-belt era to become undisputed in two different weight classes, how the fights played out for Crawford and Charlo are completely different.
Crawford obliterated one opponent after another and knocked out all seven of his opponents at welterweight before making Spence his eighth consecutive victim. Charlo’s path to undisputed was a bumpier road as Charlo wasn’t nearly as dominant with an upset loss to Tony Harrison and a draw to Brian Castano along the way. The fact that he has a blemish on his record to Harrison will certainly hurt his cause while the draw with Castano was a fight that some pundits saw in favor of Charlo’s opponent.
Charlo’s record of 35-1-1 with 19 knockouts is certainly far from bad but when compared to Crawford, he’ll have to do something special to take the top spot.
WATCH: Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo, live on DAZN
Would that be defeating Canelo?
Not really.
While Canelo still ranks in the upper crust of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, his last three performances have indicated a possible decline for the Mexican superstar. Following his loss to Dmitry Bivol, Canelo underwhelmed against a well past his prime Gennadiy Golovkin and the solid-yet-unspectacular John Ryder. His punch output and connect percentage dipped in those three fights and it is starting to look like the 33-year-old is losing tread on his tires. Should Charlo defeat him, many will point to his recent performances as an indicator that Canelo was far from the pound-for-pound great that swept through the super middleweight division.
However, if Charlo does something that resembles what happened on July 29, 2023, then he has a case to be recognized as the best fighter in the world.
MORE: The Sporting News pound for pound rankings
Why Jermell Charlo will be the #1 pound-for-pound fighter if he beats Canelo
The reason why Terence Crawford ran by Naoya Inoue as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world had more to do with how he beat Errol Spence Jr. The victory alone wasn’t enough and the former undisputed super lightweight champion needed something special. He delivered that with a performance for the ages when he dominated Spence from pillar to post before finishing the previously undefeated unified champion by ninth-round stoppage.
Every criticism about Crawford’s resume prior to the Spence fight was erased with that blistering performance. If Charlo can duplicate it, he will absolutely challenge Crawford for the top spot.
Charlo will be the second male fighter in the four-belt era to become undisputed in two different weight classes but the first to do so in weight classes that are separated by more than ten pounds. That, in itself, is the reason why he deserves consideration. But to do it against Canelo? The weight of thumping the biggest star in the sport would give him the edge when it comes to being recognized as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Winning a dominant decision won’t be enough for Charlo to take the top spot. It will have to be a one-sided affair that ends with Charlo becoming the first boxer to finish Canelo inside the distance.
But before anything else can be considered, Charlo will have to find a way to prove the doubters wrong and beat the face of boxing on September 30.