Charlo as good as his word in title defense
Middleweight champ finishes challenger with 7th round TKO
Ever since he won a unanimous decision at NRG Arena in June, Jermall Charlo has proclaimed that he would end his next fight early.
Charlo kept that promise by retaining his World Boxing Council middleweight title with a onepunch knockout of Dennis Hogan in the seventh round of their Showtime-televised main event Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs), who grew up in Alief and trains in Missouri City, floored Hogan in the fourth round with a right uppercut that sent Hogan to the canvas with such momentum that he did a backward roll after he landed.
Charlo showed similar power 28 seconds into the seventh round.
The 29-year-old feinted with a jab before connecting on a ferocious left hook to Hogan’s nose that sent him sprawling against the ropes and to the mat. Hogan got up before the 10 count, but he still was wobbly on his feet, forcing referee Charlie Fitch to stop the fight.
“We’ve been working on that,” Charlo said. “I try to take him out with every punch and we work hard for it. He got up and he fought like a champion. (Trainer) Ronnie (Shields) told me to cut him off. I just threw the shot and I made sure I threw it right on the money.”
Hogan (28-3-1), who moved up from 154 pounds to 160 to challenge Charlo, suffered his second straight defeat in a title bout.
“I wanted to keep going but the decision was fair enough by the referee,” Hogan said. “I didn’t see the punch coming on the second knockdown. I was trying to keep boxing him but then all of a sudden I was on the ground and the fight was over.”
Charlo was the interim WBC champion before he was elevated to the full belt-holder in June after Canelo Alvarez was stripped. There are four middleweight champions — Charlo, Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin and Demetrius Andrade — but little hint of consolidation on the horizon.
“The middleweight division is wide open,” Charlo said. “I’m the WBC champion. I’m going to enjoy this and spend time with my team. I’m here to fight whoever. You have to make the right decisions and do it at the right time. That’s what it’s all about.”