A layoff running into the 27th month, no world title, and no place in the top-15 rankings – as he looks ahead to a potentially final stretch of his career, Jermell Charlo may have found a way forward: getting back in line with the sanctioning bodies. In light of the recent controversies involving the WBC and Terence Crawford and later Shakur Stevenson over non-payment of sanctioning fees, which together amount to $420,000 ($300k for Bud and $120k for Shakur), the “Iron Man” Charlo may be trying to regain some standing. And he wasted no time highlighting where Bud and Shakur might have fallen short.

“I still pay them $60,000 plus during that time,” lamented Jermell Charlo during the interview with Cigar Talks’ Naji Chill. “I have four belts. They (are) complaining about one sanctioned body? Bro, I paid them sanctioned bodies, bro.”

Charlo made it clear that the sanctioning bodies, especially the WBC, deserve strong respect for backing him since he became a world champion ten years ago. To support his point, he pointed to boxing greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who all held WBC belts and defended them multiple times.

“They (were) going for the rest of the belts in the division. Don’t let (any) company come in this situation and stop y’all from making the right decision or the bullseye. They (are) ripping the sport apart by talking about what’s the most important thing. The most important thing was the championship belts,” Charlo added.

Charlo’s loyalty to the WBC is easy to understand. Before he climbed two weight divisions to face Canelo Alvarez in the fall of 2023, Charlo held all four belts at 154 pounds. He paid for the Canelo fight, as, beginning with the IBF, the other sanctioning bodies started stripping him of their world titles one by one after he failed to defend the belts.

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Only the WBA and WBC held out, labeling Charlo as their “champion in recess.” That cooperative stretch ended by the first quarter of 2024, leaving him a former champion. With his twin brother Jermall, whose career had also slipped following long breaks and personal issues, now back in the super middleweight top-15 rankings, Jermell could be eyeing a path to rebuild his position.

Though he did not mention names, fans can easily see the direction Charlo was pointing.

Crawford-Shakur-WBC clash appears to spark Jermell Charlo dig

Since December, the boxing world has reacted strongly to two instances in which the WBC stripped star boxers – Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson – of their titles. In contrast to Jermell Charlo, who was defeated by Canelo, Crawford handed the Mexican superstar a clear setback and became an undisputed champion at 168 pounds.

His reign did not last long. Early in December, the WBC stripped him of its title for nonpayment of the $300,000 sanctioning fee. Still a unified champion at the time, Crawford decided to retire from boxing two weeks later.

That pattern continued a month later, as the new year began, when Crawford’s protege, Shakur Stevenson, moved up a division to face Teofimo Lopez. Like Bud, Stevenson delivered a dominant performance and made history at Madison Square Garden with a unanimous win over Lopez.

While he fought for the WBO and The Ring title at 140 pounds, events shifted in the lightweight division, where Stevenson held the WBC belt. The Mexico-based body announced that it had decided to strip him of its 135-pound title after he moved up a division to pursue other belts.

Responding to those charges, Stevenson, who labeled them “crooks,” alleged that the WBC took that action because he refused to pay the $100,000 sanctioning fee. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman later confirmed that the decision stemmed from a $120,000 unpaid sanctioning fee and a failure to follow administrative rules.

While some observers reacted strongly to those measures, others, including Jermell Charlo, emphasize the importance of the rules set by sanctioning bodies and defend them.