Jermall Charlo confronted WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol last Saturday night, asking him if he wants to face him next at 168. Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) said he’d be interested in facing Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), even without a title being on the line.
Jermall walked up on Bivol at the Regis Prograis vs. Jose Zepeda fight at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Right away, Charlo, filmed by Fighthype, asked Bivol if he’d be interested in facing him next, and he laughed initially, probably thinking Jermall was pulling his leg.
Jermall Charlo: “You want to fight me?”
Dmitry Bivol: “Why not?”
Charlo: “I’ll fight you. Come on. Do you want to fight me? I’ll fight you.”
Bivol: “Which way?”
Charlo: “68.”
Bivol: “Yeah, it could be. Four belts. You know, my goal is to fight for four belts.”
Charlo: “Undisputed right now. Do you want to fight me? 160?
Bivol: “No.”
Charlo: “168?”
Bivol: “168, I have to think, yeah. Why not?”
Charlo: “Come on, 168.”
Bivol: “Do you have a belt at 168?”
Charlo: “I’ll do it. No belt.”
Bivol: “When do you do it?”
Charlo: “No, no, no belt. Just attraction. I’ll do it; let’s do it.”
Bivol: “I can do it.”
Charlo: “Do you want to fight me?”
Bivol: “Yeah, why not?”
Charlo: “I’ll do it. I got a chin.”
“I’ll be back next year 100%,” said Jermall. “I want Bivol. Bivol, where your a** at? He was over here calling me out. I want him next.”
When the two were standing next to each other, what was noticeable is that Jermall is bigger than Bivol in height and body size.
As big as Jermall is, there’s no need for their fight to take place at 168 because he will likely have the size advantage over Bivol regardless of what weight class they fight at. Jermall should be fighting at 175 instead of melting down to 160 to game the system.
Charlo, 32, holds the WBC middleweight title, and he hasn’t defended his belt for 17 months due to a back injury. Last night, he said he’s now 100% healthy and will be ready to return to the ring in February.
If Charlo’s management at Premier Boxing Champions [PBC] can set up a fight with Bivol’s promoters at Matchroom, it would be an interesting dual-platform fight. Bivol fights on DAZN.
Unless this deal can get made quickly, Bivol will move on and defend his WBA 175-lb title against one of the contenders. Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn said he’d like to match him against #2 WBA Joshua Buatsi next.
That fight would interest British fans but not Americans because Buatsi isn’t a household name. Bivol vs. Charlo is a far bigger fight than Bivol-Buatsi.
Again, it would need to be negotiated quickly because Bivol isn’t going to sit idle for six to eight months while the networks and promoters haggle.
