Charlo Plans His Comeback, Fury Wants Jon Jones Fight

Jermall Charlo has indicated his intention to defend his WBC middleweight belt by the end of 2023.

The champion has been out of the ring since his win over Juan Macias Montiel in 2021. A combination of personal problems and mental health struggles have led to a long period of inactivity.

That led to calls for Charlo to be stripped of his belts with worries that he was holding up the division. Although that may be the case, the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman backed the fighter by vowing not to strip him after speaking to the fighter.

“It was a wonderful meeting, very nice…He has been through complicated personal issues. He thanked the WBC for the support that we have given to him. He is our champion, and he is coming forward,” Sulaiman

And that has ultimately helped Charlo get his mindset in order, as he gets ready for a potential return.

Charlo On His Comeback

“Yeah, I’ll go right back into a title defense. I have a belt, and get some top competition and someone that will stand up and fight. I’m here to fight the best. I’ve never dodged no fighter. Even though I’ve taken this time away from the ring, I’ve still been actively been training. I just haven’t fought.

“I’m a lot better now. I had to tighten up and get it done. I’m physically almost back to where I was. I’m definitely closing in on that 70, 80%. I’m real close to feeling better. I’m in a better space. It took me time to get better to get away from the people I was around,” Charlo said 

Charlo Vs Plant

Naturally, this begs the question who could Charlo face? Well, the former was in an altercation with Caleb Plant following the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford weigh in.

During the course of that process, Plant hit out at Charlo as they had to be separated. In the aftermath, it was revealed that Plant became annoyed by Charlo’s actions towards him which included pulling his beard. Therefore, there is plenty of bad blood to make that fight happen.

Fury Vs. Jones

In contrast, Tyson Fury has put Jon Jones on notice by wanting a fight with the UFC heavyweight champion.

Fury is currently preparing to face Francis Ngannou for a crossover fight on October 28th, 2023. The WBC heavyweight champion of the world will ultimately face someone who has never boxed before in his life.

But with that Fury has had to deal with the backlash of not fighting Oleksandr Usyk. Fans had been clamouring for an undisputed fight with the Ukrainian but talks over a fight for April broke down.

The fight with Ngannou, though, is expected to get Fury around $50 million. And for a bout that is against a non-pro boxer, it appears that Fury’s level of opposition moving forward is beginning to change.

“I’d like to fight Jon Jones next. Has it ever been my priority? Did I ever say I wanted undisputed? It’s always been some little bitch’s dream, ain’t it.. Listen. I’ve got Francis Ngannou to deal with and should the other little sausage want to fight for undisputed then, you know, if he takes a small percentage then we might make it happen. But he wants a large bag that I’m gonna say no thank you.

“A lot of bi****es: AJ, Usyk, Wilder, Ruiz class them as little bitches now. You know, they’ve all had the opportunity to fight the GK (Gypsy King, Fury’s nickname) and they all turned it down for whatever reason. So good luck to them. Now they’re in the past, they’re all in the past. I’m looking forward to bigger, better things,” Fury

Nevertheless, those comments are not going to appease the fan base. The last undisputed heavyweight champion was in 1999 as Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield to achieve that feat.

However, Fury’s comments cleary indicate that he has no intention of chasing history. And that has ultimately left a sour note on the division.