Charlo not taking Adams for granted
In betting circles, Jermall Charlo is looked at as a 20to-1 favorite to beat Brandon Adams and retain his World Boxing Council middleweight championship Saturday night at NRG Arena.
Of course, those odds are similar to what former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua had in his favor before he was shockingly finished by Andy Ruiz earlier this month.
Charlo has a simple answer for how his situation differs from Joshua’s upset
loss.
“I’m not Anthony Joshua,” said Charlo, who enters the fight 28-0 and has finished 19 of his past 22 opponents early.
If someone is looking for a reason to call for an upset of Charlo, there are some small nits to pick.
Charlo, who grew up in Alief, is fighting in his hometown for the first time since 2012 and this is the first time he has been asked to carry the card and the promotion for the night, which he is doing through Lions Only Promotions, the company he owns with twin brother and fellow boxer Jermell.
That kind of pressure proved too much for Jarrett Hurd when he faced a similar situation in May, defending his super welterweight title close to his home in the Washington, D.C., area for the first time and getting upset by Julian Williams.
Charlo has said for weeks he’s not worried about selling the fight, because the “tickets are going to
sell themselves,” and judging by the packed NRG Center ballroom, which included former Texans receiver Andre Johnson among the fans, for Friday afternoon’s weighin, he may be right.
When Showtime’s Jimmy Lennon Jr., inadvertently introduced Charlo by his twin brother’s name at the weigh-in, the crowd, seemingly in unison, yelled the correction, “Jer-MALL.”
“I love y’all, Houston,” Charlo shouted back to the crowd.
The 29-year-old Charlo didn’t overwhelm Matt Korobov in his last outing, winning a close decision over the late replacement in December. Charlo held on to his title despite being distracted by watching Jermell lose his super welterweight title to Tony Harrison in a controversial decision in the co-main event of the card earlier that night.
Jermall Charlo also seemed to be thrown off by Korobov’s physical style after preparing for months to fight slick boxer Willie Monroe Jr., only to have Monroe drop out after a failed drug test and Korobov step in his place.
“There was a lot going on in that fight,” Charlo trainer Ronnie Shelds said. “Five days isn’t enough time to train for someone when you’ve already trained three months for a completely different style. Jermall knows what’s at stake in this fight. He’s fighting for the middleweight championship of the world and a chance to keep moving up in his career. You’re going to see the best Jermall Charlo against Brandon Adams.”
Although Adams (21-2) hasn’t beaten anyone of note, he is on a bit of a roll after winning “The Contender” reality TV series, and he possesses the kind of knockout power that could cause a problem if Charlo’s defense isn’t vigilant. Adams, who smiled and laughed throughout Friday’s weigh-in, also has never appeared to be overwhelmed by the moment even though he’ll be making his Showtime debut against a guy who will be making his ninth network fight.
“I don’t get too much into what other people think,” Adams said. “I go by what I believe, and I believe in myself. I always have and always will.”
Even with the odds heavily in his favor, Charlo has said he won’t fall for the trap of underestimating Adams.
“Brandon Adams made it to this level, so he’s definitely on my level,” Charlo said. “This isn’t ‘The Contender’ though; this is a Lions Only show.”