NEW YORK -- Part of Showtime's tripleheader on April 21 will be a bout for a vacant WBC interim middleweight title. Gunning for that title will be the heavy hitting Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) and Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-1, 14 KOs). A win would give Charlo a title in his second division, while this will be Centeno's first title shot.
Charlo is the heavier handed fighter of the Charlo twins and fights out of the orthodox stance. He is a patient fighter with good power in both hands. His jab is one of the best going right now and he's even dropped opponents with it. Charlo's best weapon though is his quick right hand and he can score knockdowns with it as a straight punch or an uppercut.
One knock against Charlo, and many Al Haymon managed fighters is that they aren't very active. Charlo only fought once in 2017 and that came against a lesser opponent. A year earlier in 2016 is when Charlo really announced his presence, beating both Austin Trout and Julian Williams, the latter in devastating fashion. There are a lot of big fights to be made for Charlo at 160 pounds but first he needs to handle his business against Centeno.
Centeno is also an orthodox fighter and he really likes to work off of his jab. He's a fighter who likes to use his legs but often uses them without a purpose which can be wasteful. While Centeno doesn't have a great right hand he does have a nice left hook that he can counter with and throws short. If Centeno can time the punches of Charlo and counter with his strong left hook he could find success.
The biggest fight of Centeno's career came against Maciej Sulecki and he lost that fight when he was stopped in the final round. The bad news is that he was put down by a right hand and Charlo is excellent with his right. Most recently Centeno scored a beautiful knockout against the previously unbeaten Immanuwel Aleem so he should have plenty of confidence entering this fight.
There is only one loss between this pair of 27-year-old prizefighters and with a win both could go on to some big things. Charlo is the favorite and looking ahead to some of the bigger names in the middleweight division. If Centeno wins though his career changes overnight and he becomes a name in the division. Expect the action to start a bit slow as both fighters spend the first round or two feeling the other out but the action should pick up after that and fans should get a good fight.
PREDICTION: Hugo Centeno Jr. is a good fighter but he has been knocked out by a right hand before and Jermall Charlo's right hand is one of the best in boxing. Charlo has knocked out his last two opponents before the midway point of the fight and while this bout will go a bit longer, it won't go the full 12. Charlo is going to knock Centeno out in the eighth round.
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| Charlo celebrating his win over Julian Williams |
One knock against Charlo, and many Al Haymon managed fighters is that they aren't very active. Charlo only fought once in 2017 and that came against a lesser opponent. A year earlier in 2016 is when Charlo really announced his presence, beating both Austin Trout and Julian Williams, the latter in devastating fashion. There are a lot of big fights to be made for Charlo at 160 pounds but first he needs to handle his business against Centeno.
Centeno is also an orthodox fighter and he really likes to work off of his jab. He's a fighter who likes to use his legs but often uses them without a purpose which can be wasteful. While Centeno doesn't have a great right hand he does have a nice left hook that he can counter with and throws short. If Centeno can time the punches of Charlo and counter with his strong left hook he could find success.
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| Hugo landing an uppercut |
There is only one loss between this pair of 27-year-old prizefighters and with a win both could go on to some big things. Charlo is the favorite and looking ahead to some of the bigger names in the middleweight division. If Centeno wins though his career changes overnight and he becomes a name in the division. Expect the action to start a bit slow as both fighters spend the first round or two feeling the other out but the action should pick up after that and fans should get a good fight.
PREDICTION: Hugo Centeno Jr. is a good fighter but he has been knocked out by a right hand before and Jermall Charlo's right hand is one of the best in boxing. Charlo has knocked out his last two opponents before the midway point of the fight and while this bout will go a bit longer, it won't go the full 12. Charlo is going to knock Centeno out in the eighth round.
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