Prediction,

Love this match.
Jermell Charlo is absolute mustard, I think he is the best light middleweight in the world, if they are not already, I think soon, he and his brother will be well in the top 10 pound for pound fighters. Jermell used to be known as the less dangerous Charlo, when Jermall was knocking everyone out, and Jermell was beating guys less emphatically, but in recent years, when he fought John Jackson, looked poor for a lot of the fight, made us question if he was a bit of a hype job maybe, but he pulled out the finish, came through some adversity, and since then, he has made two really solid statements, knocked Charles Hatley out cold in 6, and then against highly rated prospect, Erickson Lubin, in a fight he was supposed to struggle in, and was the favourite in only because of Lubin being not ready, surprisingly, in just one round, Charlo found a perfectly timed, lethal uppercut, incapacitated Lubin, destroyed him. You have to be impressed by Jermell Charlo, it is very tough to say who is the better of the two Charlos, but both are special fighters. I think Jermell Charlo has always been known for his skill, but now, he has proven he can really punch as well, and he can pull a brilliant victory out when he is challenged.

I've always been a fan of Austin Trout, I remember when he beat Miguel Cotto, boxed brilliantly, made a name for himself, then went on to fight Saul Alvarez, did brilliantly, lost, but was not given a fair shake, given 4, 2 rounds by judges, even though to 95% of the people who saw the fight, he won a clear minimum of 5, many gave him 6, some even thought he might have outworked, picked off Alvarez enough to win the fight. Trout looked absolutely dreadful against Erislandy Lara in 2013, dropped, dominated throughout, it was very sad to see, and in his comeback fight, he was dropped twice, although he did impress outisde of being knocked down, and it seemed likely that the Lara fight was an off night for him, because he kept at it, kept dominating tough opponent after tough opponent, and in 2016, he got another shot, fought Jermall Charlo, for the IBF title at 154. Trout lost to Charlo, but did very well, won 4 or 5 rounds, went down much more strongly and competitively than against Lara, and because of that, he got another opportunity last year when he fought Jarrett Hurd, for the same title, looked absolutely brilliant for 6 rounds, sustained a very, very pace, went to work on Hurd's head and body, but Hurd, teak tough, strong, took full advantage when Trout tired, and for 4 one sided rounds, Trout became a punching bag, he didn't go down, he didn't stop trying, but got beaten up, and after 10 rounds, his corner pulled him out.

I think Jermell Charlo wins this.

Out of these two fighters, Charlo is definitely the younger and fresher, that much is clear, he has 4 years on Trout, and being unbeaten, he has less miles, less wear and tear. Charlo is definitely the favourite, and there can be no complaints about that, he is probably a very heavy favourite. I think in terms of potential, talent, calibre, there is a small but crucial difference here, I think both Charlos are top level, Trout, at the highest level, even at his best, against, Cotto, Alvarez, that guy, good, great, but not quite an outstanding top draw fighter like Crawford, Spence, Lomachenko, Charlo, and prime on prime, I would say Charlo has a narrow but solid edge over Trout for that reason. With the timing aspect, I think that makes Trout winning this an even bigger ask, this fight depends a lot on Trout I think, I don't think he is capable of beating Jermell Charlo at his best, and he is definitely past his best, Trout, the Hurd loss will have taken a toll, Trout will be less of a good fighter than he was because of that, the question is, what does he have left?, is Trout flat out shot?, is he slightly weaker than against Hurd but not a lot?, does Trout have another big fight or two before we all start trying to tell him to retire?

We will know I think by round 3, if Trout is really done, and if he is, I think he will do well to last 8 rounds, Charlo will beat him dowm and punch through him. We hope for the interest of the fight, that Trout is not shot, just simply more worn down that he was, but still young enough, and not so faded that he can't force out another big effort, in which case, he is still a fighter who can do the rounds, got that great gas tank, still got the footwork, still got a good chin, and still as the awkward offensive tools to give any great fighter a tricky fight, if Trout still has a little bit left in the tank, at 32, even coming off the Hurd loss, then he is still a really good fighter, even though he has gradually but still over a long time period, declined since probably 2015 or 16, not just from the Hurd fight, because he was so good in his prime, and is such a mentally strong, hard grinding fighter, that he can keep slipping fight by fight, but not be any less than a good, challenging world level fighter for a long time. If Trout's punch resistance is still solid, nearly as good as a year or so ago, then I think he can still hold up against a lot of big shots, and if that is the case, then this should be a really good fight. I wonder how much of a favour Louis Burke did Austin Trout by pulling him out against Hurd, another two rounds of that, in the state Trout was in, could have been very damaging. It can be said for Trout, that he is not coming off a break, it was last October when he lost to Hurd, 8 months, not too long, but since, in February, he fought in an 8 round bout in Texas, won a basic shutout, stayed busy, which is good, should help with his confidence, and maybe the way he starts the fight.

I think for Charlo, this is a really good fight to take, it is a good name, a good test, but an opponent who he should beat without problems, whilst also being a fighter who can test him a bit. As long as Charlo doesn't overlook Trout, there is no reason for him to lose this fight, I don't think he will try to compete with his brother, he might try to do a better job on Trout than Hurd did, I think he will definitely take not half the punches that Hurd did from Trout. I think for Charlo, because he is fighting a past prime Trout, his aim will be to make a statement, more than just win, he is the champion, he doesn't need to destroy Trout to keep his belt, but I think he will try to make this a stay busy fight, try to do a number on Trout. This is a good fight for Charlo, if he wins this, and impresses, it will be great for the Charlo vs Hurd rivalry, we saw Hurd beat Erislandy Lara to become a two belt world champion, well now it is Charlo's turn to make a statement, and if he does, then that just builds up the fight even more, if they both keep winning, then maybe this year or more likely next year, that fight can happen, and they can fight in a unification bout, that would be a brillaint fight!

Austin Trout is a stepping stone at this point, let's be honest, he is a gatekeeper, but he is a very hard working stepping stone, who is not doing bad financially, and is getting the privilege of being given these opportunities which he has worked for, the chance to prove he might still be underrated, if he is.

I think this will be an entertaining fight. I think Trout will try to start by holding centre ring, firing awkward combinations at Charlo, but I think Charlo will stand his ground, land straight shots on the counter, in between Trout's shots. I think Charlo will dictate the fight for 4 or 5 rounds, work at his pace, and Trout will become frustrated, but in rounds 6 and 7, he'll be prepared to get hit even more to land his own, and he will have success, hit Charlo with some good, clean shots of his own. I think around maybe round 8, Trout will seem to getting into the fight, but as he walks forward, Charlo will set him up, and Trout will hit the deck once or twice. I think in the last few rounds, Trout will fight absolute tooth and nail, stand in the pocket often, hit Charlo with everything he can, but for the last few rounds Charlo will overpower Trout, land all the hurtful punches, and land more as well.

I think Charlo will win a landslide UD, maybe 117-109/118-108.

If the fight goes this way, I think Trout should retire, Charlo, I think should either fight Jarrett Hurd this year, or take a tune up at the end of 2018, and hopefully they can set up a unification fight for next year.