Trent Reinsmith
- Date & Location: Saturday, June 18, 2022, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
- What’s on the line: Charlo’s WBC Middleweight Title
- Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: Showtime
Undefeated WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo puts his title on the line on June 18 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas against Maciej Sulecki. Charlo has a 32-0 record heading into the bout, while Sulecki enters the contest at 30-2.
Charlo has not fought since he successfully defended his title on June 19, 2021 with a unanimous decision win over Juan Macias Montiel at the Toyota Center. He won the WBC interim middleweight title in April 2018 with a second-round knockout win over Hugo Centeno Jr. Charlo is 5-0 since that fight with wins over Matt Korobov, Brandon Adams, Dennis Hogan, Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Montiel. The Ring has Charlo rated at No. 2 in the middleweight division behind IBF and WBA champion Gennady Golovkin.
Sulecki, who is not rated by “The Bible of Boxing,” competes in his second middleweight title fight in this bout. In his first attempt to win a middleweight crown, Demetrius Andrade defeated him to retain his WBO title. Since that loss, Sulecki is 2-0 with decision wins over Sasha Yengoyan and Fouad El Massoudi.
Before we look at the WBC title bout, check out the best boxing betting sites, and if you are interested in other combat sports, where you can find the best boxing picks.
Jermall Charlo vs. Maciej Sulecki picks
| Fighters |  |  |  |  |
| Jermall Charlo | -1600 | -1500 | -1410 | -1410 |
| Maciej Sulecki | +775 | +800 | +855 | +855 |
Jermall Charlo vs. Maciej Sulecki prediction and pick
If Jermall Charlo has paid attention to the talk leading up to this fight, I would expect him to come into this contest with something to prove. Charlo has done his best to pump up his opponent, Maciej Sulecki. in the lead up to the fight, but the expectation is that Charlo will win this fight.
Charlo is the better boxer and he has a significant reach advantage heading into this contest. The champ is coming off a very busy performance in his last bout. Charlo threw a career-high 769 punches against Juan Macias Montiel and landed a career-high of 201 power punches in that contest. I expect Sulecki to be a better defensive fighter than Montiel, but I also believe that Charlo will employ a high-output effort in the upcoming title fight.
If Sulecki wants to have a chance in this fight, he needs to up his offense in a big way. In his title fight against Demetrius Andrade, Sulecki only attempted 331 total punches. What made that number look even worse was the fact that he only connected on 51 of those punches for an overall landing rate of 15.4 percent. Sulecki is not likely to score a knockout in this bout and so his hope to win rounds comes down to volume, something he sorely lacked against Andrade.
Pick: Jermall Charlo to beat Maciej Sulecki
Betting value with Charlo
The odds are stacked heavily in favor of the champion in this bout and they should be. Jermall Charlo is a better fighter than Maciej Sulecki. That’s not to say Sulecki is not a good fighter, he is, but he is not an elite fighter. Sulecki will hang with Charlo, but the only way I see him winning is if the champ takes this fight less than seriously and I don’t think that will be the case. Charlo is a relatively safe bet to win and so the value here is in the outcome of the fight.
Sulecki is a step up in competition from Charlo’s last fight, which was a 12-round decision win over Juan Macias Montiel. With that, I think Charlo wins via decision.
Prediction: Jermall Charlo to beat Maciej Sulecki via decision.
What’s at stake
Charlo received a lot of criticism for taking this fight. The general consensus was that Charlo would have been better served in inking a bout against David Benavidez, who is the No. 1 ranked fighter at 168 pounds according to The Ring for the interim WBC super-middleweight title, with the ultimate goal of the winner of that contest setting up a bout against Canelo Alvarez in 2023.
Charlo is running the risk of ruining his legacy by seeming to avoid the best competition he can face. He needs a dominant win in this fight and then he needs to step up in competition. Charlo likes to talk about his legacy, but his actions in taking fights designed to bulk up his record belie that talk of legacy.
See below the best sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
