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Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano II is official, March 19

Brian Castano (left) and Jermell Charlo after their first bout, in July of 2021, which resulted in a draw. Photo by Amanda Westcott
Fighters Network
03
Feb

News reached The Ring that Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano will meet in their eagerly anticipated rematch to crown an undisputed junior middleweight champion at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center), Los Angeles on Showtime on March 19.

Charlo, who already holds The Ring championship, IBF, WBA and WBC titles, will face Castano, who is the WBO beltholder.

The two met in Charlo’s home state of Texas last July. Many believed the ultra-aggressive Castano did enough to win. However the judges weren’t in agreement.

Nelson Vazquez scored the bout a rather wide 117-111 for Charlo, Steve Weisfeld sided with Castano 114-113, while Tim Cheatham couldn’t split them, scoring it 114-114.



Charlo captured the vacant WBC title with a come-from-behind knockout over John Jackson (KO 8). He made three defenses – most impressively knocking out Erickson Lubin (KO 1) – but lost his title in controversial fashion to Tony Harrison (UD 12). After one comeback win, Charlo regained the title, struggling at times before knocking out Harrison (KO 11). The 31-year-old added the IBF and WBA titles to his collection when he stopped Jeison Rosario (KO 8) in September 2020. His record is 34-1-1 (18 knockouts).

Castano holds impressive wins over Michel Soro (SD 12) and Cedric Vitu (TKO 12) in France. The 32-year-old has since drawn against Erislandy Lara (D 12), stopped fringe contender Wale Omotoso (TKO 5) and widely outpointed Patrick Teixeira (UD 12) to claim the WBO title. The Argentinean enters the fight with a record of 17-0-2 (12 KOs).

It is also believed that WBO junior middleweight mandatory challenger Tim Tszyu, son of former junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, will head up the undercard in his American debut.

Tim Tszyu (left) vs. Steve Spark. Photo by Darren Burns

Tim Tszyu (left) vs. Steve Spark. Photo by Darren Burns

Tszyu, who is rated No. 5 by The Ring at 154, will effectively audition for a shot at the winner of the main event when he tackles 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha. Tszyu holds an unblemished (20-0, 15 KOs) record.

Gausha won his first 20 fights before tasting defeat for the first time in a shot at the WBA 154-pound title against Erislandy Lara (UD 12). After drawing against another former titlist, Austin Trout, he lost to Erickson Lubin (UD 12). The 34-year-old Cleveland native is 22-2-1 (11 KOs).

Rising lightweight prospect Jose Valenzuela (11-0, 7 KOs) will step up and face former WBC 130-pound titleholder Francisco Vargas (27-3-2, 19 KOs).

Official confirmation is expected imminently.

 

 

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright.

 

 

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