“Charlo: Might be only one possible for a solid fight,” Ortiz manager Rick Mirigian told BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire.
Jermell Charlo shouldn’t be here. He is a dinosaur from a previous era, and every significant fighter he defeated is no longer relevant at championship level. The division moved on while Charlo disappeared, yet his name is being pulled from the past to sell Ortiz’s next fight.
Brian Castaño, Tony Harrison, Jeison Rosario, Erickson Lubin, and Austin Trout have all faded from the championship picture. Charlo has not recorded a victory since stopping Castaño in May 2022.
Even during his prime, Charlo was not as dominant as the undisputed label suggests. Harrison outboxed him in their first fight, and many viewers believed Castaño deserved the decision when their first meeting ended in a draw. Charlo stopped both men in rematches, but those fights showed that he could be outworked and outboxed when he was active.
He is now 36 and has not fought since his one-sided loss to Canelo Alvarez in September 2023. Charlo spent most of that night retreating, rarely committed to his punches, and looked more interested in reaching the final bell than trying to win. It resembled a fighter collecting his payday before leaving the sport.
Returning from that performance and a three-year absence without a tune-up would make Charlo against Ortiz look like a mismatch. Nothing about Charlo’s recent history suggests that he is ready for an aggressive opponent operating at full speed.
Vergil Jr. can be hit during exchanges, as Serhii Bohachuk demonstrated by dropping him twice. A sharp version of Charlo would have some opportunities to land his counter right. There is no reason to assume that version still exists.
Ortiz would attack the body, maintain a hard pace, and force Charlo to prove that his legs and reactions remain intact. Charlo would be trying to recover his timing against a fighter who gives him no room to settle.
The promotional approach resembles Errol Spence Jr.’s recent return against Tim Tszyu. Spence also ended a three-year absence in a pay-per-view event without rebuilding through tune-ups. His past accomplishments became the primary selling point.
Golden Boy will probably give Ortiz against Charlo the same pay-per-view treatment. Fans will be asked to pay for Charlo’s old reputation rather than anything he has done in the current era.
Yoenli Hernandez offers a far more demanding middleweight challenge. The Cuban brings genuine power and has been competing against middleweights. Beating Hernandez would tell us something about Ortiz at 160.
Beating Charlo would only prove that Ortiz can defeat an aging former champion who should have taken two or three tune-ups before accepting another major fight.
