Opinions and Observations: Charlo-Castano 2

When a fighter puts it all together, it's a joy to watch. In Saturday's rematch against 154-lb. titleholder Brian Castano, Jermell Charlo demonstrated a breadth of talent that only the elite in the sport can hope to possess. The adjustments that Charlo implemented from fight one to fight two are proof of his extraordinary boxing aptitude. It wasn't just a single change that he made, but several major ones, and he did so in just one fight camp. In a complete and comprehensive performance, he stopped Castano in the 10th round to become undisputed champion at junior middleweight.

Before delving into Saturday's rematch, let's do a quick recap on where things went sideways for Charlo in the first Castano fight (where Jermell earned a disputed draw). This will provide some context for his improvement in fight #2. Charlo was far too knockout happy in the first bout, loading up on his counter left hook and taking scores of unnecessary shots waiting for opportunities to throw. He also languished on the ropes, leaving Castano with ample opportunity to get his work in and score points. Although his corner pleaded with him to use his boxing skills more, Charlo kept his jab holstered far too often and didn't have a strong work rate. He was able to hurt Castano a couple of times, but he was outhustled throughout most of the fight and in my estimation didn't do enough to beat Castano. 

Charlo's left jab was a big factor in the rematch
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Trapp

Coming into Saturday's rematch, I had concerns about Charlo's mindset. In pre-fight interviews, he was doubling down on the knockout, and I didn't think that more of the same would be sufficient to defeat Castano. 

Well, Charlo did score the knockout on Saturday, but his performance was far more than just connecting with a big shot. He put punches together from the beginning of the fight and was determined to stay active and win rounds. The stoppage didn't come out of thin air. It was a result of the damaging shots that he had landed throughout the fight. The left hook that dropped Castano for the first time in the 10th didn't even land fully flush, but Castano still dropped to his knees; Charlo had already depleted him. 

The first sign that things were going to be different in the rematch was Charlo's avoidance of the ropes. Although he did back up through large sections of the fight, he didn't go straight back. He moved in angles, allowing himself room to throw and to evade Castano's onrushes. When he did touch the ropes, he would leap forward to tie-up Castano, which was something I'm sure that Charlo's trainer, Derrick James, had drilled into him for the rematch. Score one point for a successful fighter/trainer partnership!

The next adjustment was punch volume. Charlo was far busier in the second fight, throwing over ten punches a round more than he did in their first encounter. That's a significant improvement. And these weren't throwaway punches either. Charlo would fill dead spaces with his jab and would also follow Castano out with counter punches, not allowing his opponent to rest. It made it harder for Castano to punctuate rounds. Even when Castano would have impressive flurries, Charlo refused to let Castano's momentary success be the determining factor of a given round; he went right back to work to try to win it. It's telling that prior to the 10th, Charlo was up by at least three rounds on each scorecard. He didn't need a late-round comeback similar to the one in the first fight; he was already in the driver's seat. 

Charlo's punch variety was also more pronounced in the rematch. His jab was a real factor. He threw his right hand with more regularity, connecting with a number of pulsating counters. Notably, he started the sequence that led to the first knockdown with a right hand to the body. Charlo also mixed in a few tasty left uppercuts. He gave Castano far more to think about than just his counter left hook. 

Charlo incorporated the best aspects of the different phases of his career to defeat Castano. He showed that he could use his legs, put rounds in the bank with his boxing skills, counter with power, feature multiple offensive weapons, stymie aggression, and punch his way out of sticky situations. He wasn't afraid of combat, but he understood that he didn't have to resort to it at every moment to win the fight. It was a complete performance. 

Charlo jubilant after dropping Castano
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Trapp

As for Castano, I don't think that he was a sharp as he was in the first fight, but much of that can be attributed to Charlo, who wouldn't let him have his preferred geography in the ring. When an opponent stands in front of Castano on the ropes, Brian can be a devastating offensive fighter, throwing barrages of power punches from all angles. But those occasions were seldom on Saturday. Castano did feature one new wrinkle on Saturday, a lead right from distance that he landed almost at will. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to build on that success consistently. His right was very sharp, but he couldn't put many multi-punch combinations together. I also don't think that his feet were as good as they were in their first fight. He seemed more ponderous in the ring.

Castano was still busier than Charlo on Saturday, but he didn't have the same level of effectiveness. Charlo's punches were clearly heavier and had the more significant impact. And despite backing up, Charlo's counters were easy to see; there were very few exchanges along the ropes where it was tough to tell what was landing, which certainly occurred in the first fight. 

***

Charlo's road to undisputed did not follow a straight line. He had to learn along the way. He lost the entire first half of the John Jackson bout and took too long to make adjustments, he was flummoxed by Tony Harrison's cagey movement in their first fight, and he fell in love with his power against Castano in their initial meeting. 

Although immensely gifted, he doesn't have the improvisatory genius to cover up for potential shortcomings. He can develop bad habits. He needs to relearn things. A strong corner is imperative for him because strategic and tactical adjustments aren't always easy for him to make. 

But he has demonstrated a fundamental desire to add to his craft, to improve his ring performances, and to be an exceptional student. Mastering textbook fundamental boxing from Ronnie Shields, transitioning to a devastating power puncher under Derrick James, and learning how to put everything together in one performance – it’s his application of his skills that has made him an elite fighter. For Charlo, it's not a question of "skills pay the bills." It's how he applies them and when.

Let's hope that we see the Castano 2 version of Charlo more often. When he fights to the top of his ability level, he is a scary proposition in the ring. He possesses greatness, but he does need reminders about what makes him elite. It's not just his power or his warrior spirit or his perfectly timed counters or his ability to take a shot; it's everything. It's the full menu. Jermell Charlo has it all. We just want to see it with regularity. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook. 

Punch 2 the Face Radio

In this week's Punch 2 the Face podcast, Brandon and I broke down Dmitry Bivol's impressive victory over Canelo. We also previewed this weekend's big fight, the rematch between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano. To listen to the podcast, click on the links below: 

Apple podcast link:

Spotify link:

I heart radio link:

Stitcher link:

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook. 

Opinions and Observations: Charlo-Castano

The air of illegitimacy has plagued professional boxing since its inception. Corrupt or incompetent officials, fighters frozen out of opportunities, bribery, money laundering, thrown fights, unscrupulous promoters and managers, biases toward popular fighters or champions, there's been a litany of reasons for well over a century as to why boxing has been referred to as sport's "red-light district."

So, after Saturday's 154-lb. undisputed title fight between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano, where Nelson Vazquez turned in a ludicrous 117-111 scorecard in favor of Charlo (the fight was ruled a draw), boxing again faces a consistent and familiar thorn in its side. Too many boxing judges fail the smell test, and their unprofessionalism (let's use that euphemism) ruins the legitimacy of the contest. Instead of celebrating the combatants and their performances, Vazquez and his ilk offer reminders that the sport's unseemly side is alive and kicking. And we have watched this movie too many times. 

Rarely do these officials face consequences. Commissions and sanctioning bodies are reluctant to take out the garbage, partly because then they would have to take themselves out as well. The powers that be in the sport would prefer for these controversies to flame themselves out. Hey, the next big fight is only a week or two away. The regulators in the sport, and I use "regulator" loosely, count on the short memory of boxing fans and the industry as a whole. They don't want to interfere with their respective patronage systems within the sport unless they absolutely have to. And let's face it, robbing Floyd Mayweather is a problem; robbing Brian Castano is a regular Saturday night. 

Charlo (left) landing his counter left hook
Photo courtesy of Amanda Westcott/Showtime

Castano entered Saturday's fight as a titlist, but he owned only one of the four belts compared to Charlo's three. He's from Argentina, doesn't have a huge fanbase and even though he is represented by the PBC, it isn't like they have invested much sweat equity in him. They let him win his title on another promoter's show with few eyeballs watching and have never minded if he wanted to fight in Europe, even though the company doesn't have a footprint there. Charlo was fighting in his home state of Texas. The crowd was there for him. He had been one of the emerging faces of boxing over the last few years. Charlo was the money side of the fight. It certainly was better for "boxing" if Charlo won. As I said, we have all seen this movie before. 

At worst Castano won five rounds of the fight and it's more likely that he won eight of them than five. Except for the clear Charlo rounds, in my opinion 2, 10, 11, and 12, Castano was consistently out-throwing and out-landing Charlo. And he wasn't scoring with pitty-pat jabs. Almost all his shots were power punches. But it goes well beyond punch counting. Let's take ring generalship and effective aggression. Castano was the one coming forward, cornering Charlo along the ropes and fighting in his preferred style. He was the one dictating the terms of the fight throughout the majority of the action. He was clearly the better fighter in the majority of rounds using those two scoring criteria (in addition to clean, effective punching). 

Castano should have won via a competitive decision, but I wouldn't characterize his performance as dominant. He got hurt badly in the second and tenth rounds, both from counter left hooks. In the tenth round especially, he spent much of it in survival mode. To his credit, he showed a veteran's ability to buy time, but he wasn't trying to steal the round back. He needed all of his energy to stay on his feet. 

Overall, it was a disappointing performance from Charlo. His trainer, Derrick James, implored him throughout the bout to take the fight to the center of the ring, but Charlo would only intermittently listen to that advice. Instead, he hoped that the magic of the Tony Harrison rematch and the Jeison Rosario fight would return. In both of those matches, his power punching at close range led to knockdowns and eventual stoppages. After hurting Castano with a counter left hook against the ropes in second round, he kept looking for that shot, even as he gave up many rounds to Castano's pressure, volume and refined inside fighting skills. 

Charlo fought Saturday's match like a gunfighter who only had two bullets in his six-shooter. He seemed only comfortable throwing jabs and counter left hooks to the head. Where was his uppercut (left or right), where was the body punching, where were his lead right hands and where were the hooks downstairs? After Charlo had Castano hurt, he unfurled several right hands, but except for those moments, he was left-hand dominant. 

Castano deserves credit for Charlo's holstered weapons. By not falling into repeated attacking patterns, Charlo couldn't consistently land the types of hard counters he wanted. And Castano kept Charlo thinking all night. He'd come in behind wide left hooks, tighter hooks, looping right hands, throwaway jabs, straight rights, and from all sorts of punching angles. Despite working in close quarters, he didn't smother his work or lean over his front foot too much, which would have given Charlo easier countering opportunities. He knew how to operate in tight spaces and he was clearly superior when the fight was in that geography. 

Castano getting some work done inside
Photo courtesy of Amanda Westcott/Showtime

Let's remember that Jermell Charlo started his career as one of the best jabbers in the sport. Many of his early victories under then-trainer Ronnie Shields were won with his jab and legs. He was more comfortable leading than countering and he dominated the center of the ring. 

Under Derrick James, Charlo has morphed into a counterpunching knockout artist. He's gifted at it, but some of his old skills under Shields would have come in handy against Castano. Charlo didn't have to go to the ropes as much as he did, but he was convinced that his power would rule the day. Even after being told to go back to the center, he would make only half-hearted attempts to do so. It's almost as if he had lost confidence in his ability to box his way to a victory. 

I enjoyed Saturday's fight. Both fighters showed why they have been successful professionals. But there are two issues that disturb me upon reflection. Most obviously, Vazquez's scorecard prohibited Castano from getting a fair hearing in the fight. And that's an awful feeling in watching a sport that's supposedly on the up-and-up. In addition, I don't think that was Jermell Charlo at his best. Yes, Castano deserves his share of credit for this, but Charlo helped beat himself to a degree. His trainer was giving him the right advice. He had the tools to make it an easier fight than it was, but he just wanted to do it his way. 

I hope that Saturday's fight will spur Charlo to do some reflection. Fighters pay their cornermen to guide them through rough moments. James' advice was sound and within Charlo's capabilities. But Charlo decided to freelance. Yes, he came back into the fight, but it didn't have to get to that point. 

Jermell needs to remember that he can't knock out everyone in the sport and that he has far more weapons than he showed on Saturday. If he can look at himself in the mirror honestly, he will know that he has much more to offer. He was once a boxer, a damn good one too, and while knockouts are sexy and fun, they are only part of what is required at the highest level of the sport. His coach knew that, but it's not a lesson that Charlo was ready to accept, at least not yet. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook.