On 17th July, the undisputed title fight between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano ended in a controversial split draw, meaning no Undisputed Champion was crowned at Super-Welterweight. With the controversy surrounding the fight and the fact that both fighters will still want to become Undisputed, book the rematch now!
The Fight
At the AT&T Center in Houston, Texas, Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano fought to a split draw, with the scorecards reading 114-114, 114-113 for Castano and 117-111 for Charlo. I had the fight scored 116-112 in Castano’s favour.
Castano was notorious for being busy and Charlo was notorious for throwing clinical shots but only when openings were there, this was going to be an interesting matchup to watch.
In the opening round, Castano was getting off decent work, keeping Charlo thinking and busy, not allowing him to get in his groove. Charlo was reading the fight but perhaps wasn’t expecting the awkwardness that Castano possessed.
In the second, Charlo got a little bit going, landing a lovely left hook whilst he was on the ropes, getting the crowd going and behind his back. This fight was building to be a tasty affair.
At the end of the third, Castano rocks Charlo with a lovely right, buckling Charlo and stealing the round. Charlo survives the round but Castano was definitely faring better than anyone had given him credit for pre-fight.
As the middle rounds came upon us, Castano’s compact left hook was finding a home consistently and with Charlo’s characteristic of not being the busiest fighter, it was hard for him to get good work off when openings were there and Castano was constantly in his face.
As the middle rounds came to a close, Castano showed no signs of wavering, his work rate and cardio seemed to be in top shape and Charlo probably didn’t expect this from the Argentinian fighter. He was behind on the scorecards and likely in need of a knockdown or two to sway the judges.
Castano was dealing incredibly well with the counter-striking strategy of Charlo, picking off Charlo’s jabs and straights with his gloves and not allowing them to land cleanly.
The tenth was a massive round for Charlo though, rocking Castano and making him wobbly for the majority of the round. Castano needed the bell to recover.
In the Championship rounds, Castano had definitely recovered from being hurt in the tenth and on my scorecard, they split the rounds. Charlo on my scorecards had lost the fight but judges had a different idea.
When the scorecards were read, you could definitely see how the judges saw it a draw. But the judge who scored the fight 9-3 to Charlo definitely needs to be talked to because that is a criminal scorecard for the way Castano fought tonight.
What’s Next?
The rematch needs to be booked right away. This isn’t the first time that Castano has fallen foul to a controversial decision, fighting to a split draw with Erislandy Lara in 2019 in a fight that many thought he won outright. Castano has likely been overlooked by a lot of the fighters at 154 and not taken seriously. He perhaps may be the best at 154 and not been given the rub of the green by the judges so he definitely deserves the chance to fight for the undisputed title again and stake his claim as the top fighter at Super-Welterweight.
If this fight happens and defence needs to happen quickly, Erickson Lubin is right there. Signed to PBC as well, Lubin is the WBC mandatory, having recently beaten Jeison Rosario by stoppage and he definitely deserves another crack at the title, having lost to Jermell early in his career when he probably wasn’t ready for the big fight. Now more mature and savvier, he’s no easy out for any fighter at 154 and would be in the fight regardless of the winner out of Castano and Charlo.