Jermell Charlo has one intention on December 21st and that’s to regain what he believes is his. The American endured the first defeat of his career in 2018 to Tony Harrison and in doing so, relinquished the WBC junior middleweight title.
After coming through John Jackson in 2016, Charlo went on to make three successful defenses before coming unstuck against his fellow native. It was the 29-year-old’s first and only defeat as a pro.
Charlo went back to the drawing board and returned with victory over Jorge Cota earlier this year to extend his record to 33-1. While the Houston man has been vocal in expressing his hopes of delivering a second successive KO, Charlo thinks the negative tactics of Harrison in the rematch could end any hope of a win inside the distance.
“December 21 is my day. December 22 was the day they made a decision to give Tony a victory. I could have fought for my belt already but you saw what I did to Cota on June 23 and you saw what I was going to get ready to do to you.
“The judges that gave him the first fight woke me up. It’s motivating me. I’m past all the talking. I don’t need to talk trash about him.
“Nothing’s going to make me slow down. I’m going to move forward and I did. I went on and fought and showed everyone what I do. You see why I’m that guy.
“I have to prove a point. He has to prove a point. Let it be what it is. I have no problem with that. All of the talking doesn’t matter. He’s going to have to live up to his word and I’m going to live up to mine.
“It would be great to get a knockout, but we’re down to go 12. I’ll go to 15. It doesn’t matter. He can’t stand up to me in there and hurt me. He’s running scared. I’m for real about this. It’s about our hearts.
Charlo’s two-time mission
The judges scored their first bout 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Harrison. To avoid any controversy whatsoever, Charlo is determined to put on a personal best performance to become a two-time world champion.
“I know that I won that first fight and I’m going to do things in a more dominant fashion this time. I’m going to be overpowering and ferocious.
“It will be the best Jermell Charlo. My plan is to show everyone that Tony Harrison is not on my level.
“The loss taught me to be more patient. It’s serving as a great motivator. I feel I’m the best in the division and it’s my job to show everyone why I’m a threat to everyone at 154-pounds.”
Charlo’s mission comes just a fortnight after Anthony Joshua laid his demons to rest to regain his belts.
