And then there were none: Jermell Charlo relieved of last title
The first four-belt undisputed junior middleweight champion stripped by WBA, reclassified as 'champion in recess'
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Jermell Charlo, who became the first four-belt undisputed junior middleweight champion when he knocked out Brian Castano in the 10th round to unify the division in May 2022 in a rematch of their draw, never defended the undisputed crown. And now he no longer has any of them.
Charlo, who remains the lineal champion, was stripped of the WBA title and reclassified as its “champion in recess” on Thursday following a vote by its championship committee, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told Fight Freaks Unite. The result was expected.
The WBA reclassified him for the same reason the WBC also recently did: Charlo’s last fight was at 168 pounds, he has not made it clear if he will ever fight again 154, and he is also sidelined while dealing with legal issues.
The title will be filled by the winner of a bout already scheduled between WBA top contenders Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov, whose fight was recently added to the undercard of the Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou pay-per-view card on March 8 (PPV.com) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with their teams anticipating the WBA’s decision.
One of the conditions of the WBA sanctioning Madrimov (9-0-1, 6 KOs), 29, of Uzbekistan, against Kurbanov (25-0, 13 KOs), 28, of Russia, for the title is that the winner is obligated to defend against Charlo when he returns (if he wants the title opportunity).
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Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs), 33, of Houston, ended a 16-month layoff on Sept. 30 by making a two-division jump to challenge undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for a career-high $10 million payday and lost a one-sided decision. Charlo knew ahead of time that he would be stripped of the WBO title when the bell rang for his fight with Alvarez and that WBO interim titlist Tim Tszyu would be upgraded to full titleholder.
Charlo vacated the IBF title hours before a Nov. 21 purse bid rather than fulfill a long-standing mandatory obligation to Bakhram Murtazaliev (21-0, 15 KOs), 30, of Russia, who is scheduled to face Jack Culcay (33-4, 14 KOs), 38, of Germany, for the vacant belt on April 6 at Stadthalle Falkansee in Falkansee, Germany.
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Charlo photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC
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It's time the sanctioning bodies brought this same energy to Canelo. He has mandatories due with the WBC, WBA and IBF.
I bet Charlo does not fight again he is getting on in age and his legal troubles will keep him out of the ring for some time