Charlo vs Williams IBF Title Fight Still A Go Despite Delays.
A fight that boxing fans have been clamoring for since it was first ordered by the IBF, looks to be in jeopardy due to a few unforeseen factors. The Jermall Charlo vs. Julian "J-Rock" Williams fight was ordered to go into negotiations at the end of May after Charlo defeated Austin Trout. However, since that announcement, many stones have been thrown in the path of making the fight come to fruition. According to IBF mandate, the fight was supposed to occur within 90 days post-announcement, but Charlo filed for a medical exception for a LASIK procedure on July 8th that granted him 60 extra days to get the fight officially signed. In an interview with boxingscene.com, IBF Chairman Lindsey Tucker clarified the situation by stating, "When Charlo comes back (on September 8th) we're going to give him 15 days to get the contracts in and if they don't, then unfortunately we'll probably have to go through a purse bid".
With both fighters being under Al Haymon's PBC umbrella, the fight should not have to get to the point of going to a purse bid. But a recent tweet from Charlo this past week further fueled speculation that the fight just may have to go to purse bid to get signed. Charlo made his thoughts known that he feels the fight between the two undefeated combatants is worth millions. It is certainly one of the better fights that can be made right now in a division that is stacked with talent from top to bottom.
While Charlo put rumors to rest about him possibly vacating his IBF 154-LB title by not accepting the mandatory challenge; trainer for Julian Williams, Stephen "Breadman" Edwards still has concerns about whether or not the fight will be made as he expressed in an interview on Da Müvment Boxing Podcast Wednesday evening. He stated, “A lot of times when you got a guy who is not really making excuses but just doing other things. Fighting other people, writing letters to ask to fight the other people, then things come up. You guys see injuries and people move to different divisions. Although they are telling me the fight is going to be on and they are going to fight a little bit later than the scheduled October 1st date, I'm still skeptical."
The bout is now expected to take place some time during November, a month that is already loaded with boxing action highlighted by scheduled fights such as Manny Pacquiao versus Jessie Vargas and the highly anticipated showdown between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev. If Charlo shall happen to decide to drop his title in the interim, J-Rock Williams would then be ordered to face Tony "Super Bad" Harrison of Detroit, Michigan for the vacant belt.
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