Staff picks: Charlo vs Rosario
Who wins the 154-pound unification between Jermell Charlo and Jeison Rosario?
Saturday on Showtime PPV (7 pm ET) from Connecticut, junior middleweight titleholders Jermell Charlo and Jeison Rosario will unify three belts in a meeting of No. 1 vs No. 2 at 154 pounds.
Charlo (33-1, 17 KO) is defending his WBC belt, while Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KO) looks to add to an already great year for him, putting his WBA and IBF titles on the line.
Who wins? Our staffers make their picks.
Scott Christ
I really tried to see a way for Jeison Rosario to win this fight, but I struggled. I kept looking back on his fight with Julian Williams, and fair enough, that’s his most recent, and his first with his new trainer. He claims the trainer change has made a world of difference, and it sure looked like it, since literally nobody thought Rosario would hang with J-Rock, let alone win, let alone kick his ass.
But I just can’t see it here. Charlo isn’t Williams, which is not me believing Charlo is dramatically better than Julian — he’s beatable, but I don’t think Rosario is the guy to do it. Honestly, I think Jermell can be out-boxed. Tony Harrison had legitimate successes against him in their two fights, despite most feeling Charlo deserved the decision Harrison got, and despite Harrisoon getting stopped the second time. But man, Rosario is not going to win a boxing contest with Charlo, and I just don’t think he can bully him the way he did Williams. Rosario really might be a fixture at 154 for a while, or even up at 160, but I don’t see him taking this fight. I do think he’s going to give it the serious try, which means taking risks, which means taking punishment, which means getting stopped. Charlo TKO-9
Wil Esco
This is a fight I don’t think Jermell Charlo is taking lightly, and that bodes well for him because Jeison Rosario will certainly be coming to win. So with both fighters being really motivated for this outing, the question to me is simply, who’s the better fighter? In this instance I think it’s Charlo, but that’s not to take anything away from Rosario.
With getting dragged too deep into details, what ultimately makes the difference for me is that I think Charlo is a more dynamic fighter than Rosario, and will be able to bank some rounds early with his boxing ability before Rosario is able to physically impose himself. If and when this fight becomes more of a throwdown in the middle of the ring, I think Charlo should at least be able to match what Rosario has to offer, and if that means them splitting the back half of the fight then Charlo should still be able to win on the cards. This is a good fight and good matchup, and if there was a clear and easy prediction then it obviously wouldn’t be. I’m going to take Charlo to win on points. Charlo UD-12
How to Watch the Charlo Doubleheader PPV
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26 | Start Time: 7:00 pm ET
Location: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
TV: Showtime PPV | Stream: Showtime.com
Live Online Coverage: BadLeftHook.com
Price: $74.99
Patrick L. Stumberg
Jeison Rosario’s upset knockout of Julian Williams still ranks among the year’s most shocking upsets, and even hindsight struggles to find an explanation. Nothing about Rosario’s record suggested he’d be able to beat down a guy who’d outright bullied the gigantic Jarrett Hurd; he got knocked out by Nathaniel Gallimore and his best wins were, what, Jamontay Clark and a split decision over Jorge Cota? Just wild stuff.
Still, “he did something improbable already so why can’t he do it again” isn’t sufficient argument for a win here. Charlo hits too hard for Rosario to walk him down the way he did Williams, and “Banana” isn’t winning a technical boxing match. Whether he decides to slug it out or use his three-inch reach advantage steadily break the Dominican slugger down with a more textbook approach, Charlo figures to just have way too much for him. Charlo KO-7
Lewis Watson
Rosario is fun and comes to fight. Whether Charlo can keep the Dominican under control and at range is the key to victory for the favourite here, using his superior jab and technical ability throughout the contest. Jermell has been involved in plenty of bigger fights than Rosario over the past 3-4 years, with his experience crucial in a unification fight. I think Charlo will resist a tear up and break Rosario down inside the distance. Charlo TKO-10