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It may not have been an exciting win, but Jermell Charlo stayed unbeaten tonight with a solid victory over Charlie Ohta on Showtime, winning a 12-round unanimous decision on scores of 115-111, 118-109, and 118-109. BLH had it 117-109 for Charlo.
Charlo (24-0, 11 KO) was knocked down for the first time in his career, dropped in the third round. It wasn't a huge shot, and he wasn't hurt, but it was a legitimate knockdown, as Charlo was caught off balance with a right hand to the chin that put him on the canvas.
Otherwise, however, Ohta (24-2-1, 16 KO) had trouble getting anything going, as he was consistently outworked and beaten to the punch, and just didn't land enough to make any significant impact on the fight. That's not to say it was an easy fight for Charlo, because he had to work and Ohta didn't roll over, but Charlo proved he was the better man tonight.
"This was a rough one," Charlo told Jim Gray after the fight. "I'm still young, I'm still growing. There's more to come for me. Me and my twin brother are trying to put out for Houston. They've got champions at 154, and we're looking to be in front of them."