Charlo: ‘I showed myself that anything can be done

In the co-main event of David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade, WBC 160-pound champion Jermall Charlo returned to the ring for the first time in 29 months with a dominant performance against José Benavídez Jr., the older brother of David Benavídez in their 10-round non-title bout contracted at 163 pounds.

Charlo(33-0, 22 KOs) weighed in at 166.4 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in, compared to Benavídez(28-3-1, 19 KOs) at 161.2 pounds, but the fight was allowed to continue after both camps agreed.

The WBC 160-pound champion was the much larger man, and he pushed Benavídez around the ring with his pole-like jab and hard right hands. It all added up to a wide decision for Charlo by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

Photos: Ryan Hafey/PBC

Charlo landed 116 of 334 total jabs for a 35% connect rate and landed 127 of 279 power punches for a 46% clip.

The Houston native has battled issues with mental health, but he is back, and he feels he’ll be better going forward.

“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 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.”

Benavidez was made to order for Charlo, but give Charlo credit. He looked sharp for a guy who had been out of the ring for 29 months. Hopefully, he can overcome whatever mental hurdles he has to be more active in 2024.

Matias shines:

In other PPV undercard action, IBF Junior Welterweight champion Subriel Matías broke down, battered and stopped previously unbeaten Shohjahon Ergashev in a brutal and entertaining slugfest that has become a staple of Matías’ career.

After absorbing a barrage of punishment and looking completely overwhelmed and winded, Ergashev refused to come out of his corner to start the sixth round, as Matías notched his 20^th stoppage in 21 fights and his fifth straight retirement stoppage. The official time of stoppage was two seconds into the sixth round, and it ended another dominant, ruthless showing from Matías, who improved to 20-1 with 20 KOs in his first title defense, while Ergashev dropped to 23-1 with 20 KOs.

“When I started feeling [Ergashev’s] punches in the first round, I knew he didn’t have the power to knock me out. That’s when I started attacking,” Matías said. “For left-handed southpaw fighters, I just need three or four rounds to decipher them. Then, what happened tonight, usually happens. Teofimo Lopez, Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, if you want that, come over here and fight.”

Matías connected on 108 of 317 total punches for a 34% clip, compared to 44 of 235 and 19% for Ergashev, with 26 of Ergashev’s total connects in the first two rounds. Over five rounds, Matías landed 71 power punches and 37 jabs to complete the dominant performance.

Roach becomes a world champion:

In the PPV opener, former title challenger Lamont Roach wrested away Héctor García’s WBA Super Featherweight Title in his second attempt at a belt, dropping García in the 12^th round and winning a split decision by scores of 116-111, 114-113 and 113-114 in a highly technical and strategic fight. The knockdown in the 12^th was the difference as Roach avoided a split-draw on Saturday with the left-hook that landed on the top of García’s head with 1:20 left in the frame and drove García into the canvas for the second time in his career.

“Man, I’ve been waiting to hear ‘And the new’ for a long time,” said Roach, who improved to 24-1-1, 9 KOs. “It’s about time though. All I needed was the spotlight. The first time I was a baby – I was 24 years old. Now I’m seasoned. I don’t think anyone can beat me. Nobody.”

On the knockdown that decided the outcome: “We’ve been working on this shot for a long time, that hook,” Roach went on. “I’m the best and I want to show I’m the best. Anybody who wants to fight let me know because I want to fight all of you. There’s a lot of cool champions at 130. I’ll take whoever.”

In 2019, Roach came up short in his first title shot against Jamel Herring, also a southpaw, but made good on his second attempt on Saturday, while García (16-2, 10 KOs) was unsuccessful in his first defense of his WBA championship after he rose in weight and was stopped by lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis back in January when García retired on his stool before the ninth round, complaining of impaired vision.   

After feeling each other out for most of the bout, Roach came alive in the 11^th round, hurting García with a right hand that pushed García into the ropes. The 28-year-old Roach followed up with a right uppercut that also stunned García. Roach connected on 118 of 490 total punches, a 29% connect rate, compared to 93 of 468 or 20% for Garía, according to CompuBox. Roach also held a 79 to 62 connect advantage in power punches and an edge in jabs 39 to 31.

In other action:

Preceding the pay-per-view, exciting contender Michel Rivera (25-1, 14 KOs) recorded the biggest win of his career, upsetting former world champion Sergey Lipinets (17-3-1, 13 KOs) by three scores of 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94 in their 10-round super lightweight match in action In his first bout at 140, Rivera was the sharper and more dynamic of the two as his superior hand and foot movement confounded Lipinets, who could never quite catch up to his fleet-footed foe.

Prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. dropped Mexico’s Alexis Salazar three times in the first round, causing referee Robert Hoyle to stop the bout at 2:27 of the initial frame in a scheduled 10-round super welterweight attraction. Salazar was supposed to be perhaps the toughest opponent of Mielnicki’s career. Instead, the 21-year-old, with trainer Ronnie Shields in his corner for the first time, was razor shape and pinpoint with his punches as he improved to 16-1 with 11 knockouts, while Salazar showed little punch resistance and fell to 25-6 with 10 KOs