The first 154-pound professional fight during the four-belt belt fulfilled its promise in terms of competitive sport. Even that, unfortunately, could not save Jermell Charlo and Brian Castaño from seeing their efforts thwarted by questionable goal scoring.
Castano (17-0-2), the reigning WBO champion, was forced to settle a controversial dispute on Saturday after punching Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) before holding a drunken meeting inside the AT&T Center in San U -Antonio.
Judge Tim Cheatham won 114-114 and Steve Weisfeld won 114-113 in favor of Castaño. But Nelson Vasquez turned Charlo in 117-111, which allowed him to retain his WBA, WBC and IBF titles. CBS Sports had 116-112, and Castaño.
Despite what appeared to be an emergency in the middle of the fight as Charlo, a 31-year-old opposition striker, preferred his result, the Houston-born midfielder held high speed in the last three rounds. Charlo injured Castaño in Round 10 but was unable to dump him or finish him, which led many to believe that Castaño, a 31-year-old Argentine, has done enough.
Castaño released Charlo over 12 rounds in the range of 173 to 151, according to CompuBox, including 164 to 98 lightning strikes.
"Playing was not something I wanted to hear. If anything, I won this fight," Charlo said. "Brian Castaño is a tough guy. He will give a lot of people problems but as I said, my strength is not critical in this category.
"My coach told me I needed a knock and I just knew he knew he was talking about him. I trust him. This is the first time this has happened to me."
0 Comments