Jermell Charlo talks hand injury and possibly fighting Terence Crawford

Jermell Charlo says he still has some rehabbing to do but expects to be back in the ring by the end of the summer.

• By
  
  Wil Esco
  
• on March 20, 2023 1:30 pm

Undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo made an appearance on Brian Custer’s The Last Stand podcast to talk about where he’s at in his career, what he’s looking to do once he returns from injury, and some big plans for the future. Check out some of what Charlo had to say below.

Charlo on heading towards a fight against Tim Tszyu

“He’s a solid fighter. He’s strong, he comes to fight, but it’s not nothing I haven’t seen before or dealt with. I’ve been boxing my whole life, seeing almost every style. I’m one of the most dominant, strongest work ability, effort, everything that I put into this sport. I don’t think he presents nothing that makes it tough for me, that I can’t handle.”

On Tsyzu’s win over Harrison

“I actually thought he would’ve done a lot more than what he done against Tony, but he did enough to get the win and get the knockout. But that has a lot to do with Tony. Tony was not the best Tony, I felt, in that fight. So he’s faded out so after I knocked him out, what else could he have done, what else could he do? That’s why (Harrison) took this opportunity to fly all the way to Australia to possibly even see if he even had enough (left in the tank), but he didn’t.”

On how he views a matchup against Tszyu

“We’re gonna fight, we’re gonna bang. You don’t want to sit there and take shots and trade shots with me…(Tszyu showed) no lateral movement, no athleticism, it’s just a whole bunch of nonsense that happened in that fight that my coach is not gonna allow.”

On how his injured right hand is healing and his expected return

“The hand is going. I’m just doing everything I can, rehab. I have not punched yet. So it’s certain things when you break two bones in one hand, it takes a lot. The hand is real delicate but these is my money makers and it’s gonna be stronger than it was before. Doing a lot of different exercises and work to make sure I’m stable.

“I don’t want to get in there and shatter a hand during the fight or place myself in a position where I gotta just have an issue.

“I gotta go back (to the doctor) to find out but I was in a cast for about 6-7 weeks and I remember going back and they put me back in a cast. So finally I was able to get out the cast and start doing rehab so gained, put the weight back on. Certain things when you’re int he cast, the flexibility (becomes an issue), still very much to this day.

“I’ve got some time but I’ll be back…by the end of the summer or so.”

On his reaction to