Highlights
–Jermall Charlo won a championship 10 weeks ago by working behind his thunderous jab, and in Round 2 of his first title defense, he floored Wilky Campfort with that same punch.
–Charlo dropped Campfort again in Round 3 after buzzing him with a left hand to the side of the face followed by a right uppercut.
–In the fourth round, Charlo blasted Campfort with a left uppercut to his right eye, forcing Campfort to take a knee. Campfort was able to quickly rise from the canvas, but he claimed that he couldn’t see out of his damaged eye, causing referee Mark Calo-Oy to stop the fight.
In his first title defense, Jermall Charlo (23-0, 18 KOs) broke down Wilky Campfort (21-2, 12 KOs) without breaking much of a sweat Saturday at The Bomb Factory in Dallas.
Charlo claimed a 154-title in September by flooring former champ Cornelius “K9” Bundrage with his jab, one of four knockdowns Charlo scored on his way to a third-round TKO win.
Once again, Charlo displayed just how powerful his jab can be, dropping Campfort with it in Round 2. Campfort is at his best when coming forward and firing power punches, but the native of Haiti who fights out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, could never get his offense going against the longer, bigger Charlo.
When Campfort’s corner implored him to throw more punches after Round 1, Campfort seemed just plain overwhelmed—and/or spooked by the champ’s devastating jab.
“He’s strong,” Campfort told his trainer in response.
Yup.
Soon enough, Charlo began displaying that strength in earnest, using his aforementioned jab to set up hard left hands.
In a demonstration of just how fast his hands were, Charlo started pistoning his jab, then immediately hit Campfort with a left hook to the body before his opponent could even respond, landing twice before Campfort could counter once.
The numbers tell the story: Charlo scored with 21 jabs in Round 2 alone; Campfort connected with his jab a single time all afternoon—in 54 attempts.
In Round 3, Charlo once again sent Campfort to the canvas after buzzing him with a left hand followed by a hard right uppercut.
It would be another uppercut, this time from Charlo’s left hand, that would close the show in Round 4. The Houston resident landed it flush on Campfort’s right eye, causing the 31-year-old challenger to take a knee.
Campfort made it to his feet quickly, but his vision was so impaired that he couldn’t continue. As a result, referee Mark Calo-Oy called the fight, giving Charlo a TKO victory—the 25-year-old’s 16th stoppage win in his last 17 bouts.
As was the case in his title-claiming victory over Cornelius Bundrage in September, Jermall Charlo was tremendously effective with his jab in Saturday's fourth-round TKO win over Wilky Campfort. (Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions)
