Jermell Charlo broke out of his shell and put on a show for his hometown fans on Saturday at NRG Arena in Houston.
The bout was the headliner as part of a PBC on NBCSN bout.
The 25-year-old twin of IBF super welterweight champion Jermall Charlo is known for being a skillful boxer, but he turned it up a notch to stun ex-world champion Joachim Alcine.
The 14-year age difference was distinct as Alcine sported a profusion of salt and pepper on his beard as he approaches the age of 40 while the vigorous Charlo appeared ready, determined to thump the faded veteran.
Charlo’s hand speed and combinations were efficacious from the opening bell; his right hand was landing consistently, and Alcine was
not able to fire back with anything of note.
It was only a matter of time as Alcine, who defeated former world champion David Lemieux in 2011, was getting battered with lead left hooks.
In the sixth round, Charlo cut off the ring, and with Alcine on the ropes, popped him with a wide right cross that sent his man to the floor.
Although Alcine landed with a big right hand in a last-ditch effort to get himself back into the fight, he was enervated and out of fuel.
Following a series of blows, referee Jon Shorle stopped the fight at 1:21 in the sixth round.
“Once I established my jab, I wanted to show that I had power,” Charlo said. “I started to break him down.
“Big shout out to Ronnie Shields, he’s a great coach,” he added. “He did everything he could for me, and I respect him so much.
“But Derrick James came in the picture and said, ‘Hey, the punches are there. Do you want to throw them? Do you want to hit hard? Let’s become a puncher, as well as a boxer.’ Now, we became the rebirth.”
Since defeating Lemieux in 2011, Alcine has gone 2-6-1.
He connected on a disappointing 22 out of 157 blows (14 percent) as Charlo dominated the action with 110 connects on 233 attempts (47 percent).
“The difference was there’s levels to this,” Charlo explained. “I’m on a different level than Alcine even though he’s older. He’s won a world title before. It’s a new generation; it’s a different genre of boxing.”
Leading up to the fight, Charlo called out retired and current world champion Floyd Mayweather (49-0, 26 KO’s) to fight him or vacate his belts at 154.
He stood by his word.
“Next for me is the WBC [title],” he stated. “Right now, Floyd Mayweather holds the title at the WBC. I’m ranked No. 1 in it. If Floyd don’t want to get rid of the titles, I’m here.
“I have a lot of respect for him, and he did a great thing for boxing. If you’re not completely retired, then give me [a shot at] 154. Of course, we would love to fight Floyd.”
Mauricio Sulaiman, the President of the WBC, arrived in China earlier this week for the annual WBC convention held November 1-November 7.
He has promised that the rankings for each division will be analyzed, especially the welterweight and super welterweight divisions.
If that is the case, expect Mayweather to be stripped of his titles very soon.
– Ryan O’Hara @OHaraSports
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