Jermall Charlo's first WBC middleweight title defense was a dominant one in front of his hometown fans.
After a very busy week that saw Charlo's status go from interim titleholder to sole champion, he would go on to defeat Brandon Adams in the main event of a Showtime-televised card from Houston. Charlo won the fight by unanimous decision, pitching a near-shutout with scores of 119-109, 120-108 and 120-108.
Charlo dominated the fight with his overall power and length allowing him to be able to land punches with relative ease. Adams, on the other hand, tried to make the fight uncomfortable for Charlo, whether it be creating some distance between him and the champion at times or fighting on the inside and force the action to go to the trenches.
Regardless, Charlo seemingly had an answer for everything. There were moments in the fight where Charlo nearly managed to stop Adams, including a flurry of shots in the fifth round, but Adams was able to hang on and take all of Charlo’s punches.
A flurry of action at the end of Round 3. #CharloAdams pic.twitter.com/LLO8heMwbR
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 30, 2019
.@FutureOfBoxing's jab work is --in Round 5. #CharloAdams pic.twitter.com/fsjKpOThqk
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 30, 2019
.@BAtheCannon has a serious chin. @FutureOfBoxing lands a series of uppercuts in Round 10. #CharloAdams pic.twitter.com/G0pNnQDPQk
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 30, 2019
According to ShoStats, Charlo outlanded Adams 151 to 73 in total punches and 118 to 42 in power punches. After the fight, Charlo would go on to reveal that he had hurt his hand in the second round, which he says is the reason he wasn't able to throw punches as well as he usually did.
Charlo came into the fight as the WBC's interim champion at 160 pounds with Canelo Alvarez having held the full world title. But earlier in the week, the WBC announced that Alvarez was elevated to Franchise champion, meaning that Charlo would also be elevated to full champion. Charlo was likely going to be ordered to fight Alvarez at some unspecified point in the future, but the WBC announcement now means that fight is no longer going to be mandated.
