Jermall Charlo came off a 29-month layoff, the longest of his career, to dispose of Jose Benavidez Jr. in a 10-round unanimous decision on the David Benavidez-Demetrius undercard on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Charlo (33-0, 22 knockouts) missed the contract weight of 163, weighing in at 166.4 pounds to Benavidez Jr.’s 161.2.

Judges Max DeLuca (100-90), Dave Moretti (99-91) and Zachary Young (98-92) scored it for Charlo, and most would agree that DeLuca probably had the most accurate scorecard.

“I’ll be back stronger, just know that,” Charlo said. “I thought about everything that I’ve been through every round. God’s got me.

“I really want to thank the WBC for standing with me and going through what I went through with me, Mauricio [Sulaimán] and the whole team. I want to thank everybody who never left my side. I want to thank Al Haymon for understanding me. I know when you’re a man it’s hard to explain to somebody what you stand for, but I’m happy that I went through what I went through because I showed myself that anything can be done. And it is what it is.

“This division right here [is the most comfortable for me]. Whatever division I’m in, I’m going to conquer it. I’m going to do what I have to do. Bring me to the best place. I promise my fans are the people of boxing. To the people of boxing, I’ll be back. I’ll give you all more fights in 2024. I’m motivated by boos, so keep booing. Shoutout to the Benavidez family.”

From the opening bell, Charlo pummeled Benavidez (28-3-1, 19 KOs). In the opening 30 seconds of the second, Benavidez made it more interesting by jumping all over Charlo, but with 2:03 remaining, Charlo countered with a stiff right uppercut. In the first 20 seconds of the third, Benavidez tried it again, pressuring Charlo before backing off.

In each of the first two rounds, Charlo withstood the assaults and clubbed Benavidez with a right cross. With 1:42 left in the third, he tagged Benavidez with a thudding right to the body. Benavidez made sure Charlo knew his disdain in the last seconds of the round, yelling at him as the bell sounded.

With 45 seconds left in the fourth, Charlo touched Benavidez in the face, then slammed a perfect left hook on his chin. As the fourth ended, Benavidez whirled and hit Charlo after the bell, which drew a warning from referee Harvey Dock.

In the fifth, Benavidez had Charlo seemingly pinned in the corner, though he was not doing any damage. Charlo’s superior size had an impact with each jab he landed.

With 1:45 remaining in the fifth, Charlo and Benavidez connected at the same time, but Charlo’s blow had more impact. With 40 seconds left in the sixth, Charlo pounded Benavidez with a right uppercut that popped Benavidez’s head back.

By the seventh, it was target practice time for Charlo. With 1:06 left, Charlo tore into Benavidez with a three-punch combination to the body. From there, Benavidez was in survival mode, looking to last the distance.

“He’s a good fighter, I’m not going to make any excuses,” Benavidez Jr. said. “I came to fight. He said he was going to back me up and I didn’t back up. I kept coming forward. The best man won tonight. It’s boxing. I thought it was way closer than the judges’ said it was. At the end of the day I lost, and I’m not going to make any excuses.

“I don’t know if his extra weight had anything to do with it. Maybe. Maybe not. I came prepared. I gave my best. I’m going to take some time off – it’s the holidays. Of course, I’d like to run it back at the actual weight. At 160. If you weigh me right now I’m probably 165, and he still can’t do s—t to me. It’s all good. I’m not worried about it. I gave it my all, and I came up short.”

Joseph Santoliquito is hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JSantoliquito

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