By: Hans Themistode
Jermell Charlo could hardly keep his eyes off Jeison Rosario’s world titles.
The WBC Jr middleweight titlist has long wanted to become a unified champion and in just a few more hours, he’ll get a chance to do just that.
Jeison Rosario stepped onto the stage at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut with his shoe coverings and face masks on, and easily came in under the Jr middleweight weight limit by weighing in at 153½ pounds.
An amped up Charlo soon followed. The Houston native also had no issues as he tipped the scales at 153¾ pounds.
For Rosario, he’ll look to make oddsmakers and his doubters look silly once again in his first Pay-Per-View headliner.
Earlier this year, the 25 year old Rosario walked into a pre COVID-19 raucous Philadelphia crowd and ripped away the IBF, WBA and IBO world titles away from then champion Julian Williams.
During the lead up of that contest, Rosario, a 15-1 underdog, was mostly dismissed. Predictions of how a Williams vs Charlo matchup would play out quickly became the talking point.
One deleterious left hand however, left those hypothetical thoughts moot.
Simply put, Rosario beat down the Philadelphia native via fifth round stoppage. That success hasn’t exactly translated to respect as oddsmakers have made a sizable underdog at 5-1 against Charlo.
The pugnacious 30 year old has been on the road to a unification for several years now. Since winning the WBC title four years ago, a matchup with then champion Jarrett Hurd was presumptively next. Then of course, the titles began their merry go round-esque tour of the division.
First, Hurd lost his titles to Williams. Then Charlo lost his belt to Tony Harrison. Williams was brutally stopped by Rosario and last but not least, Charlo violently ended his rivalry with Harrison and became a world champion again.
Now, that brings us to tomorrow night. There’s a lot of the line for both men. Sure three world titles will be handed to the winner, but so will the consensus number one spot in the Jr middleweight division.
The action for this card kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, with the Pay-Per-View costing $74.95.