Jermall Charlo has no regrets about his extended absence from the ring.
The longtime WBC middleweight titlist from Houston, Texas, has not fought since he scored a unanimous decision win over Juan Macias Montiel in June of 2021, due to a combination of injuries and issues stemming from his personal life.
Boxing fans have generally been impatient about Charlo making his return, with many insisting that the WBC strip the Houstonian of his title. WBC head Mauricio Sulaiman has repeatedly expressed his support for Charlo.
But Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs)—whose twin brother Jermell is currently the undisputed champion in the 154-pound division—could be making his way back into the ring later this year. In a recent interview, Charlo made it clear that he was never going to glove up so long as he was battling with his mental health.
“I can’t wait to get back in the ring,” Charlo told a group of reporters. “I’ll be back before the end of the year though. I promise you that. I’m getting back. I’m better now. Know what I’m sayin’? Everybody goes through things, you know. I faced my little adversity and the best thing about it is that I get to beat that adversity and y’all get to see the adversity.
“At a point in my life I didn’t know what mental health even was,” Charlo continued. “And a lot of people kind of shy away from showing that sensitive side of themselves. Yeah, because I’m the champ, they all look at me like, they’re expecting greatness. And sometimes I don’t have that greatness to provide and then I’m not mentally focused. So now that I’m mentally focused I feel like I’m a better person. I’ve evolved into something y’all probably would’ve never known.
“Sometimes it took me to get away from boxing at the time. I’ve been doing it for 20, 30 years. I had to get away from it a little bit. It is what it is. You can fault me for not fighting, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Charlo made headlines a few days before the undisputed welterweight championship between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford last Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, when a video surfaced showing former 168-pound titlist Caleb Plant slap Charlo in public.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.