'Canelo vs Charlo is Mismatch' - Says Tim Bradley
Tim Bradley believes that Jermell Charlo, the 154-pound undisputed champion, is taking on a task too big for him by moving up to 168 pounds to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed championship on September 30th. According to Bradley, this Canelo vs Charlo fight is heavily in favor of Canelo, who has a record of 59 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws, with 39 of those wins by knockout. He thinks that Charlo, with a record of 35 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw (19 KOs), will struggle to handle Alvarez's power. This is because Charlo has previously had trouble with fighters in the 154-pound division. Bradley points to Canelo's experience fighting at 175 pounds, noting that he has won against former unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev and lost to WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. In Bradley’s view, Charlo likely won’t be able to hurt Canelo with his punches. However, Charlo has stated that his strategy isn't to knock out Canelo. Instead, he aims to outbox him and secure a win through a judges' decision. Charlo believes attempting to knock out Canelo would be unwise, given that Canelo has previously withstood powerful hits from fighters like Gennadiy Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Bivol, and Kovalev. Charlo also argues that Canelo's past performances against these fighters don't matter much now because Canelo has aged and isn’t the same fighter he was in 2018 and 2019, when he secured victories over Golovkin and Kovalev. Charlo suggests that the Canelo who lost to Bivol and had close fights with a 41-year-old Golovkin and John Ryder is different from the earlier version of Canelo. Bradley might have also considered the potential for controversial judging in this upcoming Canelo vs Charlo fight. It should be noted that in Canelo's fight with Bivol, the judges scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Bivol, three times, despite many viewers believing that Bivol won far more decisively. The implication is that Charlo might need to win very convincingly to avoid a similar situation with the judges.
“That’s a mismatch. How will you go up two weight classes?”said Tim Bradley to Fighthype about the Canelo vs Charlo fight being a mismatch in favor of the Mexican star.
“You’ve [Jermell] been hurt by guys at 154, and you’re going to go up two weight classes? Do you think he’ll be able to take a punch from a bigger guy? “Anybody that says, ‘Oh, he’s 6’0,” y’all tripping. You’re not just talking about height. No, we’re talking about boxing. That’s what we’re talking about. It’s different. “We’re talking about boxing. He’s [Canelo] fought at 175. Understand that. Canelo Alvarez fought at 175 against big huge dudes. It was Kovalev. He’s a freaking monster. “I don’t give a damn. Kovalev can still punch. His timing and quickness make his s**t so hard, and he’s heavy-handed, and Canelo was able to take his punch. Don’t you think Canelo can take Charlo’s punches at 154? Man, this is terrible,” said Bradley.
