By: Hans Themistode
Both Jermell and Jermall Charlo have always been the flashiest, loudest and most confident in the room. The rest of said room, haven’t always been appreciative of their pugnacious ways, but they could care less.
WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo and now, unified Jr middleweight champion Jermell Charlo–held the first ever doubleheader Pay-Per-View event this past Saturday night. It was billed as a two for one special as the pair of twins headlined separate events in what many considered the biggest test of their careers.
Jermall, 30, defended his title in one sided fashion against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. At no point was the two division titlist in any sort of trouble as he pounded the Ukrainian native round after round. On the other end of the coin, Jermall’s twin in Jermell, had an even more explosive night. Dropping former unified champion Jeison Rosario several times over before stopping him violently in the eighth round.
A twin doubleheader for a pair of identical Houston born twins was unique in every sense of the word. But after showing that something different can work, Jermell is hoping that they can start a new trend.
“Man I hope man, I hope,” said Jermell when asked if these twin doubleheaders could continue down the line. “It’ll be something new for the world of boxing.”
Both Charlo twins have always looked dominant inside of the ring. But many wondered what they would do when faced with real competition on a big stage.
In Derevyanchenko, Jermall (31-0, 22 KOs) faced someone with one helluva edge in terms of experience. With over 350 wins in the amateurs and two super close fights against Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin, the latter in which many believed he did enough to win, Derevyanchenko was a real test for Jermall.
For Jermell (34-1, 18 KOs), his contest against Rosario was thought to be more dangerous when considering how he previously left former unified champion Julian Williams unconscious in only five rounds.
Simply put, predictions surrounding how they would fair were split down the middle. With being said, both Charlo’s simply kept their heads down and continued to prepare. But just because they had tunnel vision leading up to their matchups, doesn’t mean they weren’t paying attention to the doubters and “haters.”
Now that things have gone their way, their calling everyone out. Even those who cut their check.
“I hope that we proved all of these haters wrong tonight. I saw a whole lot of yak on that Instagram and Twitter. I heard our boss that owns Showtime in Stephen Espinoza, say don’t be surprised if both of the Charlo’s lose. He thought that me and my brother were both going to lose.”
Watching how both Charlo’s dominated their opposition, something seemed to be missing. There was no roar of the crowd when Jermall landed any of his head cracking shots. And no one jumped to their feet when Jermell left Rosario convulsing on the ground.
It was dead silent. But while fighting in an empty arena is something that most boxers are growing accustomed to amid COVID-19, Jermell believes no one has ever cheered them on in the first place.
“We feel like we’re alone in this world and that’s why we’re taking everybody out one by one.”
With no night clubs open to celebrate with a few bottles, the Charlo twins took a more mundane approach to the biggest wins of their career.
“I just celebrate with my brother,” said Jermell. “He’s my biggest fan. It’s just me and my brother against the world. This is something that we wanted our whole lives.”
The 154 and 160 pound divisions remain one of the hottest in all of boxing. With fighters such as Golovkin, Canelo Alvarez and Demetrius Andrade hovering around Jermall’s fight neighborhood and Jarrett Hurd, Julian Williams and Erislandy Lara hovering around Jermell’s, neither Charlo is worried about the long list of contenders waiting for them.
“We hear to stay,” said Jermall.
“The Charlo twins are taking the fuck over,” exclaimed Jermell.
