LAS VEGAS – Jermall Charlo apparently took what will officially be his super middleweight debut entirely too literally.
The WBC middleweight champion weighed in Friday morning at 166.4 pounds, 3.4 pounds above the contracted catch weight of 163 pounds, for his 10-round, non-title fight against Jose Benavidez Jr. on Saturday night. Benavidez officially weighed 161.2 pounds, well below the limit for their Showtime Pay-Per-View co-feature.
When Charlo came back to the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale for his second attempt at making weight, he was heavier, 166.6 pounds, than on his first attempt. Whereas Benavidez weighed in only 1.2 pounds above the middleweight maximum of 160 pounds, Charlo came in just 1.6 pounds beneath the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds.
The official weigh-in for the entire card Saturday night was conducted behind closed doors Friday morning. Reporters were not allowed to watch the fighters weigh in.
A ceremonial weigh-in, at which fighters will still step on the scale much heavier five-plus hours after officially weighing in, is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. That scripted event is open to the public.
Representatives for Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), who is supposed to end a 29-month layoff, and Benavidez (28-2-1, 19 KOs) were negotiating at the time this story was posted for Charlo to pay Benavidez a financial penalty out of his purse for Benavidez to move forward with their fight.
Benavidez, 31, had already agreed to fight at a career-high weight of 163 pounds for the opportunity to fight Charlo on the undercard of his younger brother, David Benavidez, who will defend his WBC interim super middleweight title against Demetrius Andrade in the 12-round main event at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.
The contracted catch weight of 163 pounds was supposed to be a career-high for the 33-year-old Charlo as well. Assuming they move forward with their fight, Charlo will fight for the first time since his uninspiring, 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Mexican contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) in June 2021 at Toyota Center in Houston.
Benavidez, who once owned the WBA’s secondary 140-pound title, has fought only twice in middleweight matches and was already at a disadvantage against Charlo. Houston’s Charlo has been a middleweight for nearly seven years, since he gave up the IBF junior middleweight title early in 2017.
[THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED.]
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.