Photos by Amanda Westcott/Showtime
On Saturday, April 22, 2017, Jermell Charlo (29-0, 14 KOs) defended his WBC Super Welterweight world championship in dominant fashion by sparking his mandatory challenger, Charles Hatley (26-2-1, 18 KOs), via sixth-round knockout.
Charlo started the bout at a measured pace, but never had trouble handling Hatley in any capacity.
“Hatley was moving around a lot. He was trying to engage and I tried to tell him to come fight. When he finally got in there, that’s when I got him out,” said Charlo.
The Houston native Charlo, the younger twin of undefeated former 154-pound champion Jermall, floored Hatley midway through the third with a smooth, left-right combo that really spelled the beginning of the end.
After the win, Charlo spoke about his preparation for the bout and gave credit to his stablemate, Errol Spence Jr.
“Sparring with Errol Spence helped a lot. It helped me improve my accuracy. Errol is not an easy guy to hit. So it really helped me a lot,” said Charlo.
All reports coming from Spence’s camp are that he is looking sharp as he prepares to take on Kell Brook on May 27 in Yorkshire.
Header photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
