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View Winners → Archive Dec 22, 2019
Photo courtesy of Jalapeño Pete's.
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ONTARIO, CA – DECEMBER 21: Jermell Charlo defeats Tony Harrison to take the WBC World Super Welterweight Championship on the Fox Sports PBC Fight Night at Toyota Arena on December 21, 2019 in Ontario, California. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Fox Sports/PictureGroup)
Harrison vs Charlo II, the rematch fight between WBC Super Welterweight Champion Tony Harrison and former world champion Jermell Charlo took place Saturday night with Charlo regaining his world title in a “bad blood” battle. If you did not get your tickets in time for the boxing event at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, that’s ok, you can read all about it right here, right now.
Harrison was calm cool and collected throughout all of Charlo’s clear and present anger from the start of the bell in round one. Charlo was throwing deadly KO punches with fierce hatred towards his opponent. Tony stayed composed fighting from the center of the ring for the most part. In round two, Charlo knocked down Harrison with a right hook, but no serious damage.
As the fight got into the first few rounds Harrison used his deadly jab followed by some serious body shots to Charlo, reminding us how he took the title last year. Charlo answered with outstanding combinations and uppercuts. But no real damage done, no cuts no blood.
In the middle rounds, the boxers began to pace themselves, and Harrison taunted Charlo in the ring. Many times you saw Charlos head snap back from Tony’s constant jab.
Tony Harrison Landing a Heavy Right Hand to Jermell Charlo’s Face. Photo Credit: Leo Wilson/Premier Boxing Champions.
The tension was intense as the fight reached the “championship rounds.” Tony Harrison was confident, and cocky, again taunting Charlo standing with both arms open as if to say “C’mon, get me.” Sure enough at 2:08 of round 11, that’s exactly what happened. Charlo got him with a left hook to the face that stunned him sending him wobbling back into the ropes. The referee made Harrison walk towards him, and let the round continue. This was the second knock down of the fight, Harrison shaking his head no. Charlo came forward with nonstop punches to the face while Tony was still backed up on the ropes with buckling knees, taking a lot of punches in the head making the referee stop the fight. It was over, and Tony had just lost his world title.
During the pre fight press conferences, video and photo ops, the verbal exchange between the fighters was riddled with profanity and insults. Ugly language that cannot be quoted came from both sides, however Charlo was angry, and Harrison was clearly very content with his championship status that he took from Charlo as he continued to smile and laugh in Charlos face. However, the two were much more reasonable at the results of the new championship title.
“I got the belt back, and I didnt leave it up to the judges,” Charlo said. “Tony is a former champion. He had a lot on the line. I dominated and I knocked him out.”
Harrison did not argue the stop by the referee stating “Jack is a championship referee. I started getting a little lax and got caught. He earned it. The game plan was to do a little boxing, but taking a year off, my boxing wasn’t used to it. He earned it and no excuses. I got caught slipping. I never trade offense for defense. He caught me in between. I feel like I let us down. I let me down. It’s one-on-one. Back to the drawing board.”
This was an exciting rematch that fight fans had been waiting for. Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo 33-1 (17 KO’s) has been boxing since he was 17 years old. In 2015 Charlo became the WBC light middleweight champion, and has been defending his title. Bringing huge numbers to the televised bouts and ticket sales, Charlo has been earning up to half a million dollars per fight. The stakes are always extremely high for the Iron Man’s powerful career.
Tony “Super Bad” Harrison from Detroit, Michigan 28 -3 (21 KO’s) had held the Welterweight title with a controversial win last year in 2018. The fight was on fire from round one. Punches with “bad intentions” doesn’t even describe it. The judges had Charlo winning every round, and commentators continued to say Harrison needed to do more to take the title away from Charlo. At the last round, the judges scored the fight for Harrison. Many were in utter disbelief, and agree with the ideal that even if you make it all 12 rounds, get your jabs in, and don’t get knocked out, more still needs to be proven to take a World Championship Title belt away from the reigning Champ. Well, not on this night back in 2018. That is why this fight was so important and exciting.
ONTARIO, CA – DECEMBER 21: Tony Harrison v Jermell Charlo fight for the WBC World Super Welterweight Championship on the Fox Sports PBC Fight Night at Toyota Arena on December 21, 2019 in Ontario, California. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Fox Sports/PictureGroup)
Premier Boxing Champions put on a great night of boxing for everyone. The undercard fights of the event were outstanding. It was an entire afternoon of boxing with televised bouts starting at 3pm. Middleweights Hugo Centeno Jr., fighting out of Oxnard Ca vs Juan Macias Montiel from Los Mochis MEX going ten rounds was quite a fight. With an unbelievable amount of combinations exchanged, the judges scored it a majority draw.
“I don’t agree with the decision at all.” said Hugo Centeno Jr. “If I can, I’m going to appeal the decision because I thought it was wrong. This is the thing that drives away fighters from boxing is scores like these.”
Juan Macias Montiel said, “I’d like a rematch and for him to fight and not run. I was inactive for a year I gave him 3 lb and he still didn’t bring it. Next time, I want him to stand and fight.”
The co-main event was a sensation. Undefeated heavyweight Efe Ajagba from Ughelli Nigeria now 12-0 (10 KO’s) vs Lago Kiladze from Sachkere, Georgia 26-4-2 was a breathtaking fight. These incredible powershots, uppercuts and right hooks were painful to see. The sound of punches landing flush on these giant heavyweights was truly unbelievable. Sachkere, a true warrior would not stay down after eating a huge right hook from Ajagba, and returned the favor and knocked Ajagba down almost immediately after picking himself off the mat. The crowd went insane. The referee continued the fight. Sachkere had determination like no other and continued to throw blows and land punches. His legs were like noodles connected to his hips. There was a total of three knockdowns in this fight. In the end, the ring doctor had to stop the fight in the fifth round with Ajagba dropping Kiladze again for the win and remaining undefeated.
