Jermall Charlo defended his new title for the first time against Brandon Adams

HOUSTON: In front of a sold out crowd of his hometown fans, WBC Middleweight World Champion Jermall Charlo defended his new title for the first time and kept his unbeaten record in dominating fashion against Brandon Adams Saturday night at NRG Arena live on SHOWTIME.

In a near-shutout unanimous decision, Charlo (29-0, 21 KOs) won by the scores of 120-108 (twice) and 119-109.

In his first defense since being elevated to WBC Middleweight Champion on Wednesday, Charlo methodically picked apart the much smaller Adams (21-3, 13 KOs), a Los Angeles native who earned his title shot by winning the 2018 reboot of The Contender. Despite an injury to his left hand, Charlo recorded double digit connects in every round but the first while limiting the resilient and durable Adams to single digit connects in all but the final round.

Charlo was unable to punctuate his dominating display with the knockout he craved in front of the 6,408 fans who saw him headline in his hometown for the first time in his career. Despite that, Charlo was even more active than usual and led 151-73 overall in total punches landed and 118-42 in power punches connected. Charlo also made a concerted effort to attack the body, landing more shots to the body than in any his last five fights.

Looking ahead to what’s next, Charlo fired a warning shot to his fiercest competitors in the middleweight division.

In the co-feature, 23-year-old super welterweight contender Erickson Lubin (21-1, 16 KOs) stopped an overmatched Zakaria Attou (27-7-2, 6 KOs) in the fourth round, picking up his third straight knockout since he suffered a setback to Jermell Charlo in a world title fight in 2017.

A vicious barrage of power shots dropped Attou against the ropes at 1:19 of the fourth round, and after rising to his feet, the Frenchman’s corner threw in the towel. Lubin, who looked confident and comfortable from the opening bell, used his excellent jab to set up his power shots. The Orlando, Fla. native landed 19 of his 99 jabs and 32 of his 78 power shots, including 14 of 25 in the ever-important fourth round.

Attou’s problems were exacerbated when he suffered an injury to his right bicep in the third round. The 37-year-old veteran, who was riding a seven-fight win streak entering Saturday’s fight, was unable to muster up any offense. He connected on just six of his 86 punches.

With the win in the WBC super welterweight title eliminator, Lubin positions himself for a future title shot for the belt that is currently held by Tony Harrison.

In the telecast opener, Dominican Republic’s Claudio Marrero (24-3, 17 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Mexican Eduardo Ramirez (22-2-3, 9 KOs) in a feisty battle between two aggressive southpaws in fight in which 1,573 total punches were thrown. The judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 118-110.

The 30-year-old Marrero impressed the judges with his power punching and body attack. Despite throwing 29 fewer punches than Ramirez, Marrero led 136-108 in power punches and 58-49 in connects to the body. Under the guidance of new trainer Jason Galarza, Marrero displayed a more versatile skillset than he had in previous fights. Prior to tonight, 91 percent of Marrero’s total connects were power punches, but in Saturday night’s 12-round affair, Marrero showed better variety by mixing in his jab and that number decreased to 75 percent.

Marrero, who had lost two out of his last three fights and was 0-2 in 12-round fights prior to tonight, now puts himself squarely in the conversation for a world title shot.

Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING tripleheader will replay on Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME.

Roberto Villa

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.