The Charlos vs. Derevyanchenko and Rosario, also known as the Charlo Doubleheader VIII, was the eighth series of fights which involved both the Charlo twins (Jermell and Jermall) respectively. The event took place on September 26, 2020 at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut.[1]
On 22 July 2020, Showtime announced a PPV double-header featuring the Charlo twins, with undefeated WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo facing three-time world title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko and a light middleweight unification bout between WBC champion Jermell Charlo and unified WBA and IBF champion Jeison Rosario. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the event was held without fans in attendance.[2]
| Fight Name: | Jermall Charlo vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko |
| Fight Date: | September 26, 2020 |
| Location: | Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut |
| Titles: | WBC middleweight title |
| Fighter1: |  Jermall Charlo |
| Nickname1: | "Hitman" |
| Hometown1: | Houston, Texas |
| Record1: | 30–0 (22 KO) |
| Height1: | 6 ft 0 in |
| Weight1: | 159.8 lb |
| Style1: | Orthodox |
| Recognition1: | WBC Middleweight Champion The Ring No. 3 Ranked Middleweight TBRB No. 4 Ranked Middleweight 2-division world champion |
| Fighter2: |  Sergiy Derevyanchenko |
| Nickname2: | "The Technician" |
| Hometown2: | Mykolaiv, Mykolaiv Oblast |
| Record2: | 13–2 (10 KO) |
| Height2: | 5 ft 9 in |
| Weight2: | 159.4 lb |
| Style2: | Orthodox |
| Recognition2: | WBC No. 1 Ranked Middleweight TBRB No. 3 Ranked Middleweight The Ring No. 4 Ranked Middleweight |
| Result: | Charlo wins via unanimous decision |
The main event of the first card saw Jermall Charlo defend his middleweight belt against number one contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko.[3]
Derevyanchenko was making his third attempt to win a world title, having lost a split decision against Daniel Jacobs in October 2018 and a competitive unanimous decision against Gennady Golovkin in October 2019.[4]
Charlo would utilize his superior height and reach, and powerful jab to box effectively at the start of the bout, shaking the challenger late in the third with a overhand right. Derevyanchenko would grow into the bout in the middle rounds, being to close the distance and steadily land punches with both hands. Going to the body with left and landing right hands over the top. Although both boxers to would land many hard punches but Charlo's punches were usually more accurate, bruising Derevyanchenko's face and causing blood to flow from his left eye. Derevyanchenko would nevertheless keep coming forward and backing the champion along the ropes.
At the end of 12 round Charlo would score an unanimous decision victory, with scores of 116–112, 117–111, 118–110.[5]
Speaking after bout Charlo said "I made my team proud and I did what I was supposed to do, I executed the game plan. Ronnie Shields told me that I passed the test tonight. I'm happy to go back to the drawing board now and figure out what's next. He was tough, but I knew he was going to be tough. I knew he'd come to fight, I just didn't know how and when he'd try to turn it up. I felt like I never really let him turn it up and that was the game plan. I studied well and I didn't let the pandemic affect my training. I just want to keep fighting and not let any negative interrupt the positive."[6]
| Fight Name: | Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario |
| Titles: | WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and vacant The Ring light middleweight titles |
| Fighter1: | Jermell Charlo |
| Nickname1: | "Iron Man" |
| Hometown1: | Houston, Texas |
| Record1: | 33–1 (17 KO) |
| Height1: | 5 ft 11 in |
| Weight1: | 153.8 lb |
| Style1: | Orthodox |
| Recognition1: | WBC Light Middleweight Champion The Ring No. 1 Ranked Light Middleweight TBRB No. 4 Ranked Light Middleweight |
| Fighter2: |  Jeison Rosario |
| Nickname2: | "El Banana" |
| Hometown2: | Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional |
| Record2: | 20–1 (14 KOs) |
| Height2: | 5 ft 11 in |
| Weight2: | 153.4 lb |
| Style2: | Orthodox |
| Recognition2: | WBA (Super) and IBF Light Middleweight Champion TBRB No. 1 Ranked Light Middleweight The Ring No. 2 Ranked Light Middleweight |
| Result: | Jermell wins via 8th-round knockout |
The final bout saw Jermell Charlo face Jeison Rosario, with 3 of 4 155 lb titles on the line, plus the vacant The Ring belt.[7]
Charlo would start quickly, dropping Rosario with a left hook to the top of the head in the first round. In the next few round Rosario would manage to outwork Charlo with a series of attacks to the body, keeping Charlo on his back foot.
Near the end of the sixth however, another left hook had Rosario down again. This time, he was badly hurt and was saved by the bell.Rosario was knocked down for the third time by Charlo, with a left jab in the eight round and was unable to beat the count, giving Charlo the KO victory.[8] [9]
Speaking after the bout Charlo said "I definitely proved that I'm more than just a puncher, but I also showed again that I'm a big puncher. I'd give myself an A tonight, I stuck to my game plan and listened to my coach. Everything we did in camp, I used it in this fight. I pushed myself the whole way through training camp. It's been a journey for me. I'm bringing the straps home to my family like they told me to."[10]
The event was reported to have generated around 120,000 PPV buys.[11]
Confirmed bouts:[12]
| Weight Class | Weight Limit | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main card 2 | |||||||||
| Light middleweight | 154 lbs. | Jermell Charlo (c) | def. | Jeison Rosario (c) | KO | 8 (12) | 21 | ||
| Super bantamweight | 122 lbs. | def. |  Aarón Alameda | UD | 12 | ||||
| Super bantamweight | 122 lbs. | def. | UD | 12 | |||||
| Main card 1 | |||||||||
| Middleweight | 160 lbs. | Jermall Charlo (c) | def. | Sergiy Derevyanchenko | UD | 12 | |||
| Super bantamweight | 122 lbs. | Brandon Figueroa (c) | def. | Damien Vazquez | TKO | 10 (12) | 1:18 | ||
| Bantamweight | 118 lbs. | Johnriel Casimero (c) | def. |  Duke Micah | TKO | 3 (12) | 54 | ||
| Under card | |||||||||
| Light middleweight | 154 lbs. | def. | Manny Woods | RTD | 4 (10) | 3:00 | |||
The fight was televised live in the USA on Showtime PPV, Latin America (inc. Dominican Republic) on ESPN, and streamed live in Ukraine on XSPORT.
| Country | Broadcaster | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free-to-air | Cable/Pay TV | PPV | Stream | |
| (host) | Showtime | |||
| [13] | XSPORT | |||
| ESPN | ESPNPlayer | |||
| International (unsold markets) | FITE TV | |||
| [15] | Fox Sports | Foxtel Now | ||
| Kayo Sports | ||||
| [16] | RMC Sport | RMC Sport | ||
| [17] | tvOne | colspan="3" | ||
| [18] | Wowow | Wowow | ||
| [19] | Khabar | Khabar | ||
| [20] | TVP Sport | TVP Stream | ||
| [21] | Match TV | |||
| [22] | S Sport+ | |||