Jermall Charlo Retains His Belt in His Hometown Debut

In the main event of a spectacular card in his native Houston, Jermall Charlo managed to stay undefeated and retained his WBC middleweight championship. Charlo, a champion of two classes (light middleweight and middleweight), successfully defended his title before a gutsy crowd at NRG Arena. The match was the first Houston boxing bout in seven years.

Charlo controlled the entire fight. He started off the first round by mostly sizing up Adams and getting a feel for what he would do in the fight. The second round came, then Charlo started to lay wreckage with his gloves. This did not stop and continued throughout the fight. Charlo stayed in the driver seat even when taking a few hits every now and then to slightly change the momentum, but he would quickly recover. WBC middleweight challenger Brandon Adams did what he could by avoiding some of Charlo's shots, but the significant height difference and reach came in to play as Adams had a hard time when Charlo would back up and use his reach to jab and land punches. Charlo consistently cornered Adams and would unleash a melee of combos but simply did not drop Adams onto the canvas.

Huge kudos to Adams for being able to withstand all twelve of those rounds, but it was clear to fans and officials alike--Charlo easily won the bout. The judges reached a unanimous decision. Not a single judge dissented with scores 119-109, 118-110, and 118-110. After the fight, Charlo stated he will return to H-Town to fight again soon. Clutch City Charlo hinted at fighting Canelo Alverez, the number one pound for pound fighter in most rankings.

One thing is for sure, all eyes will be upon Charlo to see what he does next.