Jermell Charlo isn’t exactly proud of the way he comported himself in years past.
In a recent interview, the undisputed 154-pound champion from Houston, Texas, expressed some regret about his tetchy behavior as he was coming up as a contender.
Charlo, 33, admitted his emotions often got the best of him, to the extent that he finds it difficult to recognize himself in videos where he is acting particularly belligerent.
“I used to run around the boxing world, wanting to punch on anybody and anything and whatever and getting in trouble and catching cases,” Charlo said on Million Dollaz Worth of Game. “[My trainer] Derrick James is always trying to be in my ear how to handle myself and looking like a fool out there.
“After so many years go by, certain videos will surface from years ago. Like one time I was in New York and that was like five-plus years ago or eight years ago, and I was going off on Adrien Broner and Gervonta Davis—and we cool now, we chilling. But that video just popped back up. How did that old ass video pop back up? That ain’t me and who I am right now. That’s just how it goes. I gotta make sure I move in a precise way.”
The reformed Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) could be observed in the press tour for his upcoming undisputed 168-pound title fight against Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unlike in his previous fights, Charlo refrained from trash talking and has mostly shown respect toward Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs), whose four super middleweight titles will be at stake in their fight. Charlo has repeatedly stated trying to gin up bad blood to drive sales was antithetical to the spirit of their match-up and would be, moreover, redundant.
“I ain’t got nothin’ crazy to say,” Charlo said. “Canelo did what he had to do. I respect that. Some fighters, they be running their mouths, disrespecting you—I ain’t got time for that sh!t anymore. We ain’t got to sell it when we great. It’s two great fighters….I’m not here to be stupid. I’m done trying to be stupid. I got family watching, seeing me trying to become great and my coach be on my neck. So I don’t got time to do all that. F— that sh!t. Why I gotta go talking crazy about this n—- and his family and his people and all that.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.