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Houston junior middleweight prospect Jermell Charlo stayed unbeaten tonight with a win over veteran Demetrius Hopkins, but it wasn't exactly an inspiring performance, as the 23-year-old Charlo had a lot of trouble making the fight go, despite some attempts to do so.
Hopkins (33-3-1, 13 KO) was his usual self in there, sort of reluctant to engage and looking to keep a beyond-comfortable distance for much of the fight, not getting hit clean too often, but also doing so little that it seemed hard to give him much credit. The three ringside judges did find five rounds for him, though, scoring it 115-113 across the board for Charlo, closer than most observers had it, though they could have been clouded by pure boredom. BLH officially had it 117-111 for Charlo, but that could have been 118-110 or 116-112 or whatever, too. Who cares?
This is no knock on Charlo (21-0, 10 KO), who has looked better in the past and will look better in the future for sure. D-Hop is just one of those fighters who is not meant to be on TV, but he's also perfect for the role of veteran test against a prospect at Charlo's level, where you're deciding if he's ready for the jump or not. That means he'll get TV spots. And that means we'll all get the sweepies.
Our live coverage of the Maidana-Lopez card continues here, with Erislandy Lara vs Alfredo Angulo up next, followed by Maidana vs Lopez.