Notebook: Charlo, Castano to meet for undisputed 154 crown in San Antonio

Joyce to face Takam; new WBSS tournament on tap

The first four-belt undisputed junior middleweight championship fight will take place in San Antonio.

Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime announced on Wednesday that the fight between three-belt titleholder Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano, which is scheduled for July 17, will take place in San Antonio at the AT&T Center, the home arena of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

Also announced were two additional fights for the Showtime broadcast (9 p.m. ET): interim lightweight titlist Rolando “Rolly” Romero will defend against Austin Dulay in the co-feature and middleweight Amilcar Vidal will face Immanuwel Aleem in a 10-round bout that will open the telecast.

“This is going to be a monumental and historic even,” said TGB Promotions president Tom Brown, promoter of the card. “Charlo and Castano will be vying to become the first undisputed champion at 154 pounds in the four-belt era. This is a big moment for the sport and I’m expecting both fighters to do whatever it takes to accomplish something that’s never been done before. Whoever emerges victorious on July 17 will cement their legacy and become the undisputed top fighter in one of the most stacked divisions in all of boxing.”

Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs), 31, of Houston, regained the WBC belt by knocking out Tony Harrison in the 11th round of their rematch in December 2019. Then Charlo met Jeison Rosario this past September and knocked him out in the eighth round to take his IBF and WBA titles. Now, he’s aiming for the final belt.

“I’m hungrier than ever because I know I’m on the verge of capturing this undisputed title and doing something that nobody has ever done before at 154 pounds,” Charlo said. “There’s nobody out there that’s as fast, strong and elusive as me. Castano doesn’t possess anything I haven’t seen before, and we’ll see if he can take my power and the pain I’ll bring. But there’s nothing that worries me about this fight. I’m training super hard and aggressive and just taking it one day at a time. I’m so ready for this and more than likely he’ll walk into every shot I throw.”

Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs), 31, of Argentina, routed Patrick Teixeira — 120-108, 119-109 and 117-111 — to take his WBO title in February and will be making his first defense against Charlo.

“This is the biggest opportunity of my life and I won’t let it get away,” Castano said. “I’ll make Charlo suffer more than he ever thought was possible. I’m training with only one goal in mind, to leave the ring with all of the belts on July 17.''

Romero (13-0, 11 KOs), 25, of Las Vegas, claimed the interim belt via unanimous decision over Jackson Marinez last August. Romero knocked out Avery Sparrow in the seventh round of a nontitle bout in January and will make his first defense against Dulay.

“I’ve watched some clips of Dulay fighting, and he definitely isn’t going to want to get hit by my power,” Romero said.

Dulay (14-2, 10 KOs), 25, of Nashville, suffered both of his losses when he stepped up in competition, getting stopped by Chris Colbert in 2018 and dropping a decision to Diego Magdaleno in February 2020.

“I moved my whole camp to Atlanta to focus mentally and to prepare physically for this fight,” Dulay said. “I’m bringing everything I got for this opportunity. But honestly, my training began over 20 years for this.”

Vidal (12-0, 11 KOs), 25, a Uruguay native fighting out of Coachella, California, will be fighting in the U.S. for the third time. Aleem (18-2-2, 11 KO), 27, of Richmond, Virginia, is 1-2-1 in his last four bouts but by far Vidal’s most notable opponent.

Joyce-Takam is on

Heavyweight contender Joe Joyce will face former world title challenger Carlos Takam on July 24 at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London on July 24 (BT Sport in the United Kingdom), Queensberry Promotions boss Frank Warren announced on Wednesday, confirming the Fight Freaks Unite report from last week.

Joyce is coming off his biggest win in November when he knocked out Daniel Dubois in the 10th round to win the vacant European title. Joyce’s next fight was supposed to be against Oleksandr Usyk for the vacant WBO interim world title but that fell through when Usyk got his mandatory shot at Anthony Joshua after Joshua’s planned undisputed title fight with Tyson Fury was scrapped.

According to Warren, if Joyce (12-0, 11 KOs), 35, of England, wins he will be the next WBO mandatory for the Joshua-Usyk winner.

“It is a testament to Joe’s character that he’d take a fight as difficult as this when a world title fight is waiting round the corner,” Warren said. “This is a dangerous, dangerous fight and Joe needs to make sure he doesn’t let Carlos come in and take everything he’s worked so hard for.”

Takam (39-5-1, 28 KOs), 40, of France, has won four fights in a row since back-to-back knockout losses to Joshua, who stopped him in the eighth round of a world title defense in October 2017, and Dereck Chisora, who stopped him in the eighth round in July 2018.

“I only want competitive fights but everyone wants to avoid me,” Joyce said. “Carlos Takam didn’t even want to spar me in Las Vegas, so I’m surprised he’s taken the fight. He has operated at a high level for a long time but on July 24th the ‘Juggernaut’ will be activated and I will run him over.”

Takam added, “I am excited about my fight on July 24th! Hey Joe, let's give the great boxing fans in the U.K. an exciting fight. Be ready because I am a problem.”

World Boxing Super Series returns

The World Boxing Super Series announced on Wednesday that it will be back for a third season with one tournament, which see a field of eight women vie for the Muhammad Ali trophy in the junior lightweight division.

None of the fighters participating were announced and the specific timing of when the tournament will begin has not yet been set.

There have been five previous tournaments in the first two seasons with the winners being Oleksandr Usyk (cruiserweights) and Callum Smith (super middleweights) in the first season and Josh Taylor (junior welterweights), Naoya Inoue (bantamweights) and Mairis Briedis (cruiserweights) crowed tournament champions in the second season.

“In season I and II we delivered the best tournaments in men’s boxing, but it was always our dream to not only deliver the best tournament in men’s boxing but to prepare a worthy stage for women’s boxing and support these fantastic fighters, too. Now it’s time to realize it,” WBSS CEO Andreas Benz said. “It will be much more than the greatest women’s boxing tournament. We plan to strategically help to broaden women’s boxing, both at the grassroots and elite level, and develop a professional environment where talents and profiles can grow and legacies are born.”

Kalle Sauerland, the WBSS chief boxing officer, said they have talked about doing a women’s tournament since the first season began in the fall of 2017.

“We feel (junior lightweight) is a division that has such depth and also allows those in the divisions around it to take part,” Sauerland said. “We feel that this is the time, the right time. Women’s boxing has never been this good. We are looking forward to a spectacular season.”

Show and tell

In 1973, George Foreman challenged Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title in Kingston, Jamaica. He tore apart Frazier, who two years earlier defeated Muhammad Ali in their famed first heavyweight championship fight. Foreman dropped Frazier three times in the first round and three more times in the second round for the knockout to win the title and eliciting broadcaster Howard Cosell’s memorable “Down goes Frazier!” call.

Far less famous is the second fight between Foreman and Frazier, who were both former champions when they met again. Frazier was fighting for the first time following his 14th-round knockout loss to champion Ali in their epic third fight, “The Thrilla in Manila.” Foreman was two fights removed from losing the world title by eighth-round knockout to Ali in the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle.” In their rematch, Foreman and Frazier met for a regional title at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island, and Foreman dominated again. He knocked Frazier down twice in the fifth round for the stoppage. That fight, the second to last of Frazier’s career, was on June 15, 1976 — 45 years ago on Tuesday. Here is a scarce site poster in superb condition from the fight in my collection.

Joyce photo: Queensberry Promotions