LAS VEGAS – Jose Benavidez Sr. wasn’t the least bit surprised that Jermall Charlo came in overweight Friday morning for a 10-round, non-title fight against his son Saturday night. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Benavidez, who trains Jose Benavidez Jr. and David Benavidez, made sure to penalize Charlo as much as possible for officially weighing in at 166.4 pounds, 3.4 pounds above their contracted catch weight of 163. Benavidez Jr. stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 161.2 pounds Friday morning, the highest weight of his career, yet five full pounds less than Charlo.
Benavidez Jr. talked trash to Charlo when they came face to face on stage during a ceremonial weigh-in Friday afternoon at House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Once they were separated by promoter Tom Brown and others, Benavidez blasted Charlo during an interview with Premier Boxing Champions’ Miguel Flores.
“He’s a little b!tch that’s not dedicated,” Benavidez said. “That’s all it is. That’s all I have to say. I’m gonna f— him up tomorrow!”
Flores asked Charlo about Benavidez’s comments a few seconds later, but the Houston native dismissed what his offended opponent said about the unbeaten WBC middleweight champion.
“I ain’t hear him,” Charlo said. “What you mean? My thoughts about what? Him? It’s cool. The fight gonna be tomorrow. Imma show y’all tomorrow.”
Charlo, 33, will end a 29-month layoff in the co-feature of a four-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View event that will be headlined by Benavidez’s younger brother, David Benavidez, and Demetrius Andrade in the 12-round main event. Benavidez Sr. told 15rounds.com’s Norm Frauenheim on Friday afternoon that Charlo cannot weigh more than 176 pounds at a second-day weigh-in Saturday morning or he will be fined more money from his purse.
Frauenheim reported that Charlo has already been docked $75,000 per pound over 163 by the NSAC for failing to make weight Friday.
“I’m very, very upset about this,” Benavidez Sr. told Frauenheim. “I wanted to make this as expensive as possible for him as I could [in their contracts], just to make sure that he didn’t do this. I thought maybe he’d be one pound over, but I’m really angry because of the three pounds. It’s costing him a lot and if he’s more than 176 pounds tomorrow, it’ll cost him more.”
Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought since June 2021, in part due to mental health struggles that the former IBF junior middleweight champion has repeatedly acknowledged publicly. His fight with Phoenix’s Benavidez Jr. (28-2-1, 19 KOs) was contracted at a catch weight three pounds above the middleweight limit of 160 pounds partially because Benavidez isn’t ranked among the WBC’s top 15 middleweight contenders and therefore isn’t eligible for a title shot.
Prior to Friday, Benavidez Jr. had not officially weighed in at more than 158¾ pounds for any of his 31 professional fights. The highest Charlo had weighed for any of his first 32 pro bouts was 160 pounds prior to Friday.
Charlo remains a heavy favorite, 7-1 according to BetMGM sportsbook, to beat Benavidez Jr. in the bout before David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) defends his WBC interim super middleweight title against Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.