Jermall Charlo encapsulated his complicated relationship with his twin brother when he was asked to make closing comments during his post-fight press conference late Saturday night at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
“And if y’all talk to my twin brother, tell him I love him,” Jermall Charlo said. “And tell him I won the fight and, you know, y’all call him for me or whatever, hit him up. He not answering my calls or whatever.”
Organizers of the Showtime Pay-Per-View card on which Jermall Charlo defeated Jose Benavidez Jr. expected Jermell Charlo to sit ringside in support of his brother, despite the squabbles both boxers have discussed publicly. The former undisputed junior middleweight champion didn’t attend the show, which took place almost two months after Jermall Charlo sat ringside for Jermell Charlo’s biggest fight – a 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Canelo Alvarez on September 30 at nearby T-Mobile Arena.
Jermall Charlo hugged his brother in Jermell’s dressing room before that Showtime Pay-Per-View main event. The unbeaten WBC middleweight champion apparently hasn’t spoken to brother since they left Las Vegas following Jermell’s lopsided loss to Alvarez.
Jermall Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) and Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) both live in the Houston area, but Jermell Charlo indicated three days before he challenged Alvarez that they might remain estranged.
“This is the same mindset I always have,” Jermell Charlo told a group of reporters after a press conference September 27 at MGM Grand. “They say I’m calm, cool and collected, but I’m really fired up. I don’t know why they [say that]. You know, I guess I can say not having my rowdy-ass brother around me every [day] – my brother ain’t been in camp. Ain’t seen him, talked to him, nothing, throughout this whole camp.
“I think that might’ve, you know, slowed me down as far as how rational I can be. You know, when he getting ready for a fight, I’m loud and obnoxious and energy, intoxicated, whatever we wanna call it, and having a good time waiting on him to fight. And I feel like at this moment, it’s my turn. Just don’t got that noise in my head.”
Jermell Charlo did admit at that time that he somewhat missed having Jermall Charlo around him.
“I did, maybe a little bit,” Jermell Charlo said. “It ain’t affecting me. I still got a good team. I still got my friends, people I grew up with and all of this. You know, like I don’t think – I have no excuses. You know, and my brother’s getting his life together and whatever he gotta do to be the best in boxing. So, I’m my brother’s keeper always.”
Jermall Charlo discussed his mental health struggles again Saturday night, just before he mentioned that he hasn’t been in contact with his brother in recent months.
“Public, people in the world, human beings,” Jermall Charlo said, “if you have a problem, the best way to like overcome your problems is finding a special person and talk to him. Some people, they here for you, you know? A person like me, reach out to me, DM me. I might hit you back. But hey, find somebody to get some help, man, because like it get dark. And it’s real, you know?”
Jermall Charlo, 33, ended a 29-month layoff by beating Benavidez in Showtime Pay-Per-View’s co-feature before David Benavidez stopped Demetrius Andrade after the sixth round of their main event. He came in 3½ pounds overweight Friday for their 10-round, 163-pound, non-title bout, but the heavily favored Charlo fought effectively and decisively defeated Phoenix’s Benavidez (28-3-1, 19 KOs) by wide distances on all three scorecards (100-90, 99-91, 98-92).
By Keith Idec