Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano Battle To Split Decision Draw

Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano left boxing fans itching for more after battling to a split decision draw Saturday night.

The two were fighting for the undisputed 154-pound title live on Showtime.

In the co-main event, Rolando Romero remained unbeaten and left with the WBA interim lightweight title, while Amilcar Vidal Jr. scored a victory in the opener.

Both Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) and Castaño (17-0-2, 12 KOs) laid it all on the line in their quest to become the first ever undisputed 154-pound champion in the four-belt era.

“Shout out to San Antonio for coming through. The win is what I wanted to hear,” said Charlo. “I won this fight. I hurt him way more than he did to me. Castaño is a real warrior. But my power is serious at this weight division.”

“I won the fight,” said Castaño. “There were some rounds that he did hit me and he hit me hard. But I won this fight. I want to thank San Antonio. I want to thank SHOWTIME and Al Haymon for this fight. It was a great opportunity.”

With the fight hanging in the balance, both fighters let their hands go in the final round. According to CompuBox, Charlo landed 151 of 533 (28.3%) punches in the fight to Castaño’s 173 of 586 (29.5%). Castaño held a slight advantage in power punches, landing 164 of 400 (41%) to Charlo’s 98 of 246 (39.8%) while Charlo out-jabbed his opponent by a significant margin, landing 53 of 287 (18.5%) to Castaño’s nine out of 186 (4.8%).

After 12 rounds the judge’s scores were split, with a score of 117-111 for Charlo, 114-113 for Castaño and a 114-114 draw, ending the fight in a split-decision draw.

Dana Becker

The world of MMA is one of the few sports that brings together people from all walks of life. I try my best to tell those stories and also present breaking news to the masses.