By Cliff Rold

Suffering the first knockdown of his career off a right hand in round three, 24-year old Jermell Charlo (24-0, 11 KO), 153 ¾, of Houston, Texas, rose easily and boxed his way to a lopsided unanimous decision over twelve rounds against 32-year old New Yorker Charlie Ohta (24-2-1, 16 KO), 153, fighting out of Hachioji, Japan.  

Charlo had some issues with low blows in the fight, losing a point in round nine, but his work upstairs was more than enough.  Ohta left the evening with a swollen left eye. Charlo left with his hand raised by scores of 115-111 and 118-109 twice over.

 

Asked after the fight about the knockdown, Charlo said, “He hit me with a right hand.  It wasn’t one of those shots that hurts somebody. It just caught me off balance.”  Charlo spoke about title opportunities in his future, specifically calling out interim WBA titlist Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO).  

"Erislandy Lara, you're next."

Lara is currently slated for a non-title pay-per-view showdown with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 KO) on July 12.  Charlo’s twin brother, Jermall (18-0, 14 KO), also competes in the Jr. Middleweight division.

 

The card was broadcast in the US on Showtime as part of its “Championship Boxing” series, promoted by GYM Promotions. The referee was Jean-Guy Brousseau.

 

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com