By: Hans Themistode
Brian Castano still believes that his shoulders should be laced with even more gold.
After taking on unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo roughly a month ago, Castano couldn’t believe his ears when it was announced that their contest was a split decision draw. The WBO 154 pound titlist ultimately threw more punches, 586 to 533, and landed more, 173 to 151, throughout their 12 round fight. Still, despite the numbers, the Argentinian was unable to win over the judges on the night.
At times, during the heat of the battle, boxers can become incoherent to what’s taking place in the squared circle. On numerous occasions, following either a close win or loss, countless fighters have preferenced their comments by stating “I need to look back at the fight” before commenting on what took place.
Even now, as the 31-year-old has popped in the tape several times, he gives Charlo credit for leaving him on unsteady legs on more than one occasion. Regardless of that, Castano believes it was essentially one-way traffic.
“I felt like I dominated beside the second and third where he clearly hurt me. Fair is fair,” said Castano during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “In the end, I clearly felt like I won. I think the fans think I won too.”
Currently, Castano and his management team are working diligently to get Charlo back in the ring. While the Houston native appeared interested in facing Castano immediately, he might be forced to go down another route.
Shortly after their contest, Charlo was mandated by the IBF to take on Bakhram Murtazaliev. If for some reason, Castano’s team is unable to get Murtazaliev to step aside, the WBO titleholder will look to occupy his time against someone else in the meanwhile.
“My hope will be that there will be some kind of way to set aside that mandatory fight that Charlo has and do the rematch immediately,” continued Castano. “If that can’t happen, then I have to look for someone in the 154-pound division or a 147 pounder that wants to come up to 54. Then, we can see what happens after that but my hope is for an immediate rematch.”
Considering that Charlo holds three of the four major world titles in the division, the Houstonian could be facing a long line of opponents, making his rematch with Castano all the more difficult. With that said, Castano believes that Charlo has no other choice but to fight him.
“Charlo needs the opportunity to clear his name. In the end, I’m confident that this fight will happen.”