Saturday night, Jermall Charlo and Demetrius Andrade fought on separate cards and far-away networks, defending their respective world middleweight titles and, more importantly, trying to make the case for themselves as heirs apparent to the current two-headed king at the top of the 160 lb. class, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.
Unfortunately, neither fighter did much to make that case or to create a demand for a big-money showdown with either.
The failure to dazzle boxing fandom is less of a problem for Andrade, who will be getting a shot at one of the big two no matter what, simply because of his ties to Matchroom Boxing and DAZN, the streaming service which reportedly paid close to a half-billion dollars to secure the multi-fight, multi-year services of Alvarez and Golovkin.
Facing Poland’s Maciej Sulecki, the Providence, Rhode Island native and reigning WBO middleweight champ did what he usually does—flash some tantalizing skills and abilities, but settle on merely doing enough to win while staying safe.
Even fighting in front of his hometown crowd at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence with a potential star-making fight against Canelo or Triple G in his immediate future, Andrade performed without much urgency. He boxed well and won every round on all three scorecards against a solid fighter in Sulecki, but he made no impression. Everyone knew he was the better fighter coming into this bout and he just went about affirming that when, ideally, he should’ve gone in there and proven himself an elite by showing what true elites do to contenders who are merely “solid.”
Similarly, Jermall Charlo, fighting in front of his own hometown fans at NRG Arena in Houston and defending his WBC middleweight title, took a decisive, but ultimately disappointing unanimous decision over Contender reality show winner Brandon Adams.
While Charlo took 35 of 36 scored rounds on the judges’ scorecards and was never even remotely in anything resembling danger, like Andrade, he made no impression. In theory, Adams’ bullish, in-fight style could’ve presented some problems for him, but it became clear very early on that the challenger lacked the skill and ability to step up to this next level-- and Charlo either wouldn’t or couldn’t put a brutal finish to the show.
Blame an injured left hand or Adams’ awkward style and reluctance to take risks, but is there any doubt of the fight-ending brutality that Gennady Golovkin would’ve inflicted on an overmatched and reluctant Adams?
Charlo, who started making a name for himself because of his KO power, has revealed who he really is over the last few years. Although he has tremendous offensive capabilities, at heart he’s a cautious, careful boxer who, if presented with a puzzle or quandary, will fall back and box his way to a safe victory. It’s not a bad instinct to have, it’s just not something that will force business hurdles to be leaped so he can get a crack at Canelo or Golovkin.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Andrade and Charlo put in lackluster performances this past Saturday. They did what they had to do to win, stay safe, and stay on the lane to bigger things. But they didn’t make a case for themselves as “must fight” opposition for the big two in the middleweight division and they didn’t even make the case that they really deserve status as “elite” players at 160.
An elite walks through the likes of Sulecki and Adams, showing himself to clearly be one or two levels above the mere mortals. Andrade and Charlo just showed us that they were good, better than Saturday’s opposition—but we knew all that already.
Quick (S)hits:
-- Canelo Alvarez was named Franchise Champion by the WBC this past week and this could possibly be the most audacious hustle in the audacious history of WBC hustles. Basically, Alvarez will now be able to sidestep any obligations that come along with being WBC middleweight champ and fight whoever the hell he wants for as long as he wants. And since the Franchise championship can’t be lost in the ring, he can remain champ even if he loses. So, to the benefit of the WBC, he can keep handing in those fat sanctioning fees to the sanctioning body indefinitely. Meanwhile, Jermall Charlo has been elevated to full champ status, but is further away from actually getting a Canelo fight than ever before.
-- Speaking of hustles—how the hell did anyone sanction a fight between Amir Khan and Billy Dib? I know the fight is in Saudia Arabia, where crazy shit is part and parcel of the everyday experience, but this is a mismatch of brutally epic proportions. Dib was a second tier paper champion featherweight eight years ago when he was in his prime—and even then he got stopped by light-hitting Evgeny Gradovich. And to add insult to the insanity, the winner of this human sacrifice (Khan), will be fast-tracked to a top 5 ranking in the WBC.
-- On the Andrade-Sulecki undercard Saturday night, former heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker made his DAZN debut, dominating and eventually stopping world title contender/truck driver Alex Leapai in ten rounds. Can Parker make it back to the near-top again? Yeah, Eddie Hearn will make sure of that. Can he do better this second time around? Nope. Parker is Parker—a decent offensive fighter with many chinks in his armor and a will to win that takes a back seat to a will to survive when the going gets rough.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com