Jermall Charlo may have erased any and all doubts some may have had for the WBC middleweight champion with a big stoppage win on Showtime.
In the main event of a Showtime-televised card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Charlo scored a seventh-round TKO win over Dennis Hogan to retain the WBC title.
Charlo landed a vicious left hook in the seventh round to send Hogan to the canvas and although Hogan was able to get back up, he was somewhat unresponsive when the referee gave him instructions to follow after the knockdown. As such, the fight was stopped and Charlo was able to retain his WBC title for the second time.
The 29-year-old Charlo entered 2019 as the interim WBC titleholder, but right before Charlo was set to fight Brandon Adams earlier this year, he was elevated to full champion after Canelo Alvarez was named the WBC Franchise champion. Charlo ended up winning the fight against Adams by unanimous decision to retain the title.
Elsewhere on the card, Chris Eubank Jr. was declared the winner in his fight against Matt Korobov after Korobov was unable to continue fighting due to a shoulder injury. With the win, Eubank picked up the interim WBA middleweight title, further muddying up the WBA middleweight title situation as Ryota Murata holds the organization's "Regular" title and Alvarez holds the "Super" title.
Opening the Showtime broadcast was Ryosuke Iwasa making a case to challenge for another super bantamweight title by stopping former bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales in the 11th round of their bout. Now the interim IBF titleholder at 122 pounds, Iwasa has won two straight since a loss to TJ Doheny back in August 2018. Iwasa is the mandatory challenger to the IBF title being held by unified champion Daniel Roman.
In other PBC-related news, former welterweight champion Danny Garcia will be returning to the ring on January 25, 2020 at the Barclays Center, but an opponent has yet to be announced. Garcia was primed to face unified WBC and IBF champion Errol Spence next, but Spence is currently recovering from an automobile accident he had shortly after his win over Shawn Porter back in October and will not be facing Garcia next month.
Below are the full results of the December 7 Showtime Championship Boxing card from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York:
- Jermall Charlo defeated Dennis Hogan by TKO, round 7 to retain the WBC middleweight title
- Chris Eubank Jr. defeated Matt Korobov by TKO, round 2 to win the interim WBA middleweight title
- Ryosuke Iwasa defeated Marlon Tapales by TKO, round 11 to win the interim IBF super bantamweight title
