Canelo Alvarez’s last super welterweight opponent revealed what he should have done differently before 2023 fight

Canelo Alvarez fended off challenge from super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo in 2023

A win over Brian Castano in May 2022 would see Charlo become the undisputed world super welterweight champion.

16 months later, Charlo would get a huge opportunity to face Mexican star Alvarez at super middleweight. However, the American had never competed above 154 lbs before.

Despite the inexperience in the weight class, Charlo was considered to be one of the best athletes in all of boxing at the time. With a 35-1-1 record, Charlo’s only loss came in 2018 to Tony Harrison, a defeat he later amended.

The qualities of ‘Iron Man’ would not be enough to overcome a then 59-2-2, fully unified, Alvarez. Winning via unanimous decision, Alvarez also scored a knockdown against the super welterweight challenger.

Going into his super card meeting with Alvarez on September 13th, Crawford will likely take notes from Charlo’s performance. However, he can also take note of the challenger’s post-fight press conference.

Jermell Charlo on what he should have done before making move to fight Canelo Alvarez

In his post-fight press conference, Charlo spoke about his loss to Alvarez. In the beginning of the press conference, Charlo said, “Canelo’s a mother——- beast. He’s an ox. Maybe I felt that more because of the fact that this is my first time in the weight division.”

Charlo then said what he should have done before the fight by saying, “I wish I could have gained a little bit more weight in between [my last fights].”

The former unified super welterweight champion was asked if the strength of Alvarez was an issue. The fighter responded by saying, “I feel like you can’t just charge at a fighter. His power did have an effect, but it wasn’t too dominant to the point where I couldn’t have come forward. I should have come forward a little bit more in this fight.”

Despite not being overwhelmed by the size of Alvarez, Charlo went on to add, “I felt some of his punches.”

In terms of a desired fight-night weight, Charlo said that he would have liked to have weighed over 177 lbs, as opposed to the 172 or 173 lbs that he did weigh.

When asked about the punch in the seventh round that dropped him, Charlo said that it was ‘the first time he felt a woozy shot’ in his career.