Vinny’s Views: Jermell Charlo Vs Willie Monroe, JR – The Stats, The Facts & The Ringside Report Fight Prediction Is In!
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By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci
You can’t always get what you want. No you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.” (From the song, You can’t always get what you want. Lyrics by the Rolling Stones.)
Every single time a boxer straps on the leather mitts he is one with his maker knowing full well there is no written guarantee he’s exiting the elevated dance canvas the same way he entered it. Therefore it isn’t an unreasonable assumption that these gents make “bank” for their herculean efforts wanting to be fully appreciated now and rub elbows with the elite of their profession. There is also an unspoken trust among media and fans that the boxers they follow will earn their respect in the pecking order of rankings through the necessary ascension work to attain their lofty goals.
Every era the market place has its share of gate crashers, interlopers, prima donnas and pretenders. Sorting them out can be as entertaining as the headliners as long as nobody upsets the natural order of the boxing universe. Enter the Charlo brothers, identical twins Jermall and Jermell. Both brothers are bonafide authentic talents with sterling potential and unlimited options. Both champions instill both fear in opponents and intrigue among the masses. The gents have the proven skillsets to demand the fights they want yet both brothers fight too infrequently against lesser opposition to keep our attention focused upon them…
The Event:
On December 22, Premier Boxing Champions will present the Charlo brothers fighting on a twin bill making separate title defenses. After winning a coin toss Jermall will headline the card defending his WBC interim Middleweight title against #3 ranked Willie Monroe, JR. Jermell will defend his WBC Jr. Middleweight title against #4 ranked Tony Harrison in the co-feature. Both championship bouts will be televised on Fox and Fox Deportes and hosted at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn New York.
Stats on Main Event:
The champion goes by the moniker of “Hitman” and while it isn’t very original he does have some of the physical attributes associated with the moniker’s history. The fact he stepped up six pounds to take on middleweight division enabled fans to distinguish one twin brother from the other with better comprehension and less confusion of the names. Charlo stands a lean yet muscular 6’ with a 73 ½” wingspan and fights from orthodox stance. The 28 year old champion appears to be years away from his peak promising his best fights are yet to come. The Richmond Texas native has been a pro for a decade but inexplicably has an impeded resume that boasts a perfect record of 27-0, 21 KO’s. He has wasted precious time fighting only once or twice a year below his opposition level.
The challenger also has a nickname borrowed from a famous hall of famer in the way of “Mongoose.” Standing a well- balanced 5’ 10” with a 74” reach the 31 year old southpaw has compiled a modest ledger of 23-3, 6 KO’s. Hailing from Rochester New York Willie Monroe Jr.’s comes from a boxing family and his great uncle was ‘the” Willie the Worm” Monroe who was a top rated middleweight contender in the 1970’s. Monroe’s career has also languished with infrequent activity. Two of his three losses have come by way of failed title attempts. Losing to hammer fisted Gennady Golovkin by 6th round TKO three years ago is easily excusable but two years later he allowed himself to be out boxed by Billy Joe Saunders by 12 round UD. In all likelihood this will be Monroe’s last shot at a middleweight belt.
Styles:
The champion is truly a sight to behold and carries 160 pounds to perfection. Fighting from orthodox stance Jermall is an extremely nimble stalker with fast, fluid combinations who never wastes the jab. He has radar when placing his good night punches as counters in mid combination or when thrown as a single bolt of lightning. He makes you pay for your mistakes and if you take the time to visit his “high lite” reel his opponents never see it coming. Jermall controls not only the tempo of the action but also dictates the distance and perimeter of ring. If he has any faults to exploit it’s going to take an adversary equal to him to find them.
The challenger is well respected but at this level of competition it’s almost like he’s going into this match handicapped when compared to Charlo. The power and chin to keep the champion off simply aren’t there. Monroe is a talented southpaw who circles ring playing matador behind a busy snappy jab. His guard is often too low for this type of style and doesn’t let his left hand go enough. He has legs and stamina to spare if he can avoid the pocket conflicts he was forced to endure against Golovkin.
What to look for fight night:
It can be safely assumed that Charlo has studied Monroe’s losses rather than his victories. Gennady not only walked his man down he would occasionally loop over hand bombs in order stop Monroe and turn him into his power shots rather than allowing him to glide to his right behind southpaw jab. Whenever he did, it rattled Willie and dropped him several times. Charlo must prevent Monroe putting rounds in the bank and has the power, reach and speed to do so.
The Vinny Factor:
Behind the scenes the WBC ordered Canelo Alvarez to defend against interim champion Jermell Charlo. Alvarez ignored order tying up the belt up in mothballs while challenging Rocky Fielding for his rival WBA super middleweight title. So, WBC orders Charlo to defend against top contender Gennady Golovkin who wasn’t interested. Hence here we are in nothing more than a glorified workout for Charlo unless of course he isn’t focused and lets the sacrificial lamb box to scorecards. Should that happen Charlo’s stock even in victory would plummet.
Fight Significance: “C-“
While the name “Charlo” stirs the ambers in the fire pit both brothers have failed to ignite the boxing landscape for one prurient reason, neither has built a record against worthwhile contenders proving the potential we see has 100% validity. With only a sparse 6 KO’s on the challenger’s record he instills fear in no one and justifies the fan frustration. Why fight the conquered boxer, why not fight his conqueror? Even if WBC mandatory Gennady Golovkin wasn’t interested in match why not call out Daniel Jacobs for unification or perhaps give Billy Joe Saunders who was recently stripped a chance at a belt again? Hell even David Lemieux represents a punchers chance. Charlo himself has said he intends to base his own performance against those three fighters who have already beaten Monroe removing all doubt of forgone conclusion and fan interest.
Odds:
Charlo has been made the logical favorite at -210 with Monroe, JR. at +135
Prediction:
Charlo by stoppage in 9 or less.
Aftermath:
Charlo gets in some work to keep rust off and maintains his WBC status while putting some retirement money in the kitty but accomplishes little in the way of heroic glory.
Monroe, JR. might be better suited to go down to the junior middleweight where he can rehydrate back to 160 pounds overnight and look to exploit some of the name fighters who do not possess stellar boxing skills to match their vaunted power surplus like Jarrett Hurd or Jaime Munguia. Least we not lose sight that Jermell looms large at 154, but what’s a fellow to do?
Stay tuned…
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