Charlo twins make history, win junior middleweight titles — PHOTOS
They promised to make history Saturday, and the Charlo twins kept their word.
The 26-year-olds from Houston vowed they would leave The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with world junior middleweight belts and become the first brothers to hold titles in the same weight division.
Jermall Charlo retained his International Boxing Federation title with a 12-round unanimous decision over veteran Austin Trout, and Jermell scored an eighth-round technical knockout of John Jackson to win the vacant World Boxing Council 154-pound belt.
“We did it,” Jermell Charlo said. “We made history. We’ve been boxing for all these years, and it had to happen.”
Jermall Charlo said: “It was great being the first twins to win titles in the same division, and I’m so proud of my brother. I knew he could get the job done.”
Jermall Charlo (24-0) won by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
“This was my first time I went 12 rounds, and I was ready for it,” he said. “Austin is a beast. He’s a hell of a fighter. But I was in great shape, and I trained for a hard fight.”
Trout (30-3) suffered a cut over his right eye in the seventh round and kept plowing away. But he couldn’t hurt Charlo, who had started fast and used his superior hand speed to land a lot of solid blows in building his lead.
“I thought I did enough to win, but they’re not going to give me a close decision,” Trout said.
Jermell Charlo rallied to win his fight, as all three judges had Jackson (20-3) ahead 69-64 after seven rounds.
Charlo rocked Jackson with a shot to his left eye early in the eighth round, and it appeared that Jackson couldn’t see. He turned his back on Charlo, who responded with two lefts that sent Jackson tumbling into the ropes of his corner. Referee Tony Weeks determined Jackson was out on his feet and in no condition to continue.
“My mouthpiece was coming out, and I was trying to put it back in and he hit me again,” Jackson said. “It’s boxing. I got caught.”
Jermell Charlo (28-0, 13 knockouts) said he knew he had to pick up the pace.
“He was boxing me, and I wasn’t expecting that,” Charlo said. “I thought he’d come to brawl, so I adjusted.”
In the main event, Erislandy Lara outpointed Vanes Martirosyan to retain his World Boxing Association junior middleweight title.
Lara (23-2-2) won a 12-round unanimous decision — 116-111, 116-111, 115-112 — in a fight that had its share of dirty pool, just as in their first meeting in 2012, which ended in a draw after Martirosyan suffered a nasty cut over his left eye from a head butt and the fight was stopped in the ninth round.
“I was never worried,” Lara said through an interpreter. “I knew I was always in control.”
Lara threw punches and got out with minimal damage. Martirosyan (36-3-1) tried to use his power and had his moments. But Lara showed a good chin, and it had to be frustrating for Martirosyan, who was dinged a point by referee Vic Drakulich after repeated low blows in the 11th round.
“I thought I did enough to win,” Martirosyan said. “He ran all night. He got every benefit because he’s a champion. But I’ll fight him again right now.”
Beibut Shumenov retained his WBA cruiserweight title, scoring a 10th-round TKO of Junior Wright.
Shumenov (17-2, 11 KOs) survived a fifth-round knockdown when he was dropped with a left hook. But he came back and knocked down Wright with a hard right to the body in the eighth. He hurt Wright in the ninth and landed another right to the body early in the 10th.
Wright (15-2-1) didn’t want to continue, and referee Benji Esteves stopped the fight at 1:04.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow on Twitter: @stevecarprj
