Jermall Charlo will end another long layoff when he fights Koen Mazoudier on the undercard of the Errol Spence-Tim Tszyu fight on July 25 at Afterpay Arena in Sydney, Australia.
This part of the 36-year-old’s career has been marked by inactivity. Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs) was one of the best boxers in the world, winning the middleweight title in 2015, then successfully defending it three times before moving up to super middleweight and winning that title as well. He won five straight title defenses at middleweight, but after beating Juan Macias Montiel in front of a raucous hometown crowd at Toyota Center in June 2021, Charlo faced several hurdles outside the ring, including a bout with depression.
He has fought just three times since that night, beating José Benavidez Jr., in 2023, then taking out Lamanna two years later.
Taking on Mazoudier (15-4-1, 6 KOs), who is a relative unknown outside of Australia, should be a tune-up fight for Charlo, who has his sights set on bigger fights down the road if he can knock off the ring rust that’s accumulated from years of little action.
The fight card also marks a return for Spence, who hasn’t been in the ring since getting TKO’d by Terence Crawford in 2023. His main event is the capper to a tripleheader that is nothing but American vs. Australian fighters. Besides Spence-Tszyu and Charlo-Mazoudier, Stephen Fulton Jr., also will fight Liam Wilson.
The night could also set up a return of Jermell Charlo, Jermall’s twin brother, who hasn’t fought since losing a lopsided decision to Canelo Alvarez in 2023. There’s talk of Jermell, the former undisputed champion at junior middleweight, getting matched up with the winner of the Spence-Tszyu fight.
Jermell was supposed to fight Tszyu in 2023, but Jermell broke his hand in training and the fight was scrapped. He also was training partners with Spence in Dallas, but the two have had a falling out, which would set up an interesting grudge match between the two Texas boxers.