Carlos Adames would’ve preferred to fight Jermall Charlo last month, not an opponent that the undefeated Charlo knocked out 6½ years ago.
The Dominican Republic’s Adames owns the WBC interim middleweight title and therefore should be next in line to fight for Charlo’s 160-pound crown. Bob Santos, Adames’ trainer, still doesn’t think his emerging fighter will ever get the opportunity to challenge Charlo, who hasn’t fought in two years.
Santos watched Jermall Charlo and his twin brother, Jermell, spar countless times when Santos worked with Erislandy Lara. Based on what Santos has seen, the veteran trainer is completely confident Adames would be too much for the long-sidelined Houston native if they fought.
“Adames is just a different level of an athlete,” Santos told BoxingScene.com. “It is what it is. He’s a cut above. He’s as gifted as any athlete I’ve seen. All things being equal, the camps being equal, everybody got in the best shape of their life, I don’t see how Charlo can beat Carlos Adames. And now you’ve gotta talk about Charlo, who hasn’t fought in two years. I think he’d be hard pressed to beat Carlos Adames.”
Adames (23-1, 18 KOs) made the first defense of his WBC interim middleweight title against Julian Williams (28-4-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) last month at The Armory in Minneapolis. FanDuel sportsbook had established Adames as more than a 5-1 favorite against Philadelphia’s Williams, a former IBF/IBA/WBA 154-pound champion.
The 29-year-old Adames would stop Williams in the ninth round.
Prior to that, Adames demolished Mexico’s Juan Macias Montiel by third-round knockout October 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) gave Charlo more trouble than expected, but Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) won their 12-round bout by unanimous decision in June 2021 at Toyota Center in Houston.
Charlo, 33, hasn’t fought since his victory versus Montiel.
The former IBF junior middleweight champ was supposed to defend his WBC belt against Poland’s Maciej Sulecki (31-2, 12 KOs) a year ago at Toyota Center, but Charlo withdrew from that fight, reportedly due to a back injury suffered while doing roadwork. Charlo later acknowledged that personal problems prolonged what was already a lengthy layoff.
Charlo still doesn’t have a fight scheduled, though he and Demetrius Andrade talked about putting together their long-discussed bout last month on Instagram Live.
Santos is convinced Adames won’t be one of the opponents Charlo considers whenever he returns.
“I’m not God, so I don’t wanna say a hundred percent,” Santos said. “But I’m 90 percent sure Charlo is never gonna step in the ring with Carlos Adames. There’s a lotta times people say, ‘risk versus reward’ and I know the Charlos pretty well, like I said. I’ve watched them over maybe a thousand or more rounds while I was with Erislandy Lara. And everything Charlo can do, Adames can do better, both left-handed and right-handed. [Adames] fights right-handed and left-handed. He’s got faster hands, he’s a bigger puncher and I’ve seen Adames [spar] with [David] Benavidez, Caleb Plant, all these guys, and I know for a fact he’s a bigger puncher [than Charlo]. He’s got faster hands, he’s got faster feet.
“So, I don’t see what Charlo would be able to do in any way, shape or form to beat him. Obviously, it’s professional prizefighting and anybody can get caught with a big shot. But outside of hitting the lottery, I don’t see what [Charlo] would be able to do and therefore I just don’t think they would ever take that fight because he knows [Adames] everything does better, at a higher level, both right-handed and left-handed. So, in their minds, why would they ever take that fight? They know Carlos is a beast, he’s an animal, and so I just get the sense that fight will never take place.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.