Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom was surprised that Jermell Charlo didn’t take any risks in Saturday’s fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Charlo, who entered the ring as the undisputed champion at 154-pounds, moved up by two full weight classes to challenge Canelo for his undisputed crown at 168-pounds.
The fight became a one-sided encounter, with Canelo dominating Charlo over twelve rounds at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Charlo was dropped in the seventh, but never appeared to be in serious danger otherwise.
The scores were 119-108, 118-109 and 118-109.
Hearn believes Charlo’s performance hurt the boxer’s future marketability as a pay-per-view attraction.
He would have liked to see Charlo take some chances and go out on his shield.
“Canelo Alvarez came into that fight hungrier, mentally in a better place, and physically in a better place. I just don’t know what Charlo was doing. These guys get an opportunity like that, and they’re not rolling the [dice]. It looked like a sparring session. I’m talking about as a fan. I had nothing to do with the fight. Fans are entitled to their opinion, which they always are. So am I,” Hearn told the Matchroom Youtube channel.
“I just don’t understand how you can sit at a press conference, ‘My time, legacy, shock the world, show I’m a great,’ and then not even – at least if you’re gonna get beat, go out on your shield and get chinned. Those kinds of performances can really affect your profile moving forward.
“Before, Jermell Charlo against Terence Crawford would have been a mega-fight. Is it now? Who is rushing to see Jermell Charlo back? I thought it was a really disappointing fight, but pleased obviously because Saul did it, but I think Saul probably wanted it a bit more than Charlo. He just went into a shell and tried to survive, and it was just weird. Very poor.”