Undisputed title matches are becoming thankfully a lot more frequent these days, and, on Saturday night, Jermell Charlo defends his WBC, WBA (Super) and IBF Super Welterweight belts against WBO champion, Brian Carlos Castano.
Charlo (34-1, KO18) is in a second spell as a 154 pound champion, having originally become the WBC belt holder in May 2016, Jermell would lose his title when outpointed by Tony Harrison in a December 2018 upset.
A swift comeback win led to a rematch with Harrison, and ‘Iron Man’ Charlo gained retribution with a penultimate round knockout win.
Charlo’s last appearance saw him add both the WBA (Super) and IBF straps, as he knocked down Jeison Rosario on the way to an eighth round knockout win in September 2020.
He now takes on a dangerous assignment, with Argentine banger Castano (17-0-1, KO12) standing in the Texan’s way in the quest to be undisputed champion.
Buenos Aires native Castano won the interim WBA title in July 2017, and was upgraded to full champion shortly after, defending in a last round stoppage of Cedric Vitu eight months later.
Brian then held Erislandy Lara to a draw, but was forced to vacate his belt when he refused to face Vitu in a rematch, and instead went down the WBO route, winning a ranking belt against Wale Omotoso, before earning a crack at WBO champion, Patrick Teixeira in February this year.
In an excellent display, the 31-year-old routed the Brazilian on the scorecard to become the new champion.
Prediction: Charlo has rebounded from his shock loss to Tony Harrison in good fashion, but Castano is a real threat, and this could be a tricky nights work for the three belt champion.
If he can negotiate the early rounds, where the South American will be at his most dangerous, then the sensible selection is for Charlo to take the fight in a clear decision win.
Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (13-0, KO11) defends his interim WBA Lightweight title on the card, as he meets former European champion at ten stone, Anthony Yigit (24-1-1, KO8).
Romero won the belt in August last year, outscoring Jackson Marinez, and he was last seen stopping Avery Sparrow in seven in a non-title match in January.
Yigit has been out of the ring since June 2019, and the Swede had scored three straight wins following a loss for the vacant IBF Super Lightweight title to Ivan Baranchyk in October 2018.
The pick is for Romero to retain on the cards.
Uruguay’s Amilcar Vidal (12-0, KO11) is up against Immanuwel Aleem (18-2-2, KO11) at Middleweight in an interesting matchup.
Aleem has only won one of his last four contests, but has been in with decent opposition, and held Mat Korobov to a draw over ten in May 2019.
Vidal is a heavy hitter though, and can halt Aleem inside the distance.
Big punching Russian, Bakhram Murtazaliev (18-0, KO14) is showcased on the undercard, and the California based 28-year-old is paired with Khiary Gray (16-5, KO12) over a scheduled eight at Super Welterweight.
Murtazaliev should be able to take a win around the halfway mark here.
