WBC orders rematch between Tony Harrison and Jermell Charlo

As soon as the stunning scores were read on Dec. 22 in Brooklyn, giving Tony Harrison a big upset over Jermell Charlo and the WBC junior middleweight title with it, a rematch was expected. And the WBC has now ordered one.

Harrison (28-2, 21 KO) beat Charlo (31-1, 15 KO) by unanimous decision on scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112, a shocker to most who were scoring the fight at home. Most believed that Charlo had clearly won the fight and deserved to retain his title, but the three judges (Julie Lederman, Ron McNair, and Robin Taylor) all disagreed.

So one of the most controversial decisions of 2018 looks like it will be run back at some point in 2019.

Charlo, 28, will go in as the favorite, just as he did the first time, but even if you think he deserved the W the first time around, it probably goes without saying that he shouldn’t fight as passively as he did in that first meeting. In the end, you can argue he gave the judges enough openings to shade rounds the way of Harrison, 28, who before that bout had been seen as something of an underachiever in his career, a once-hyped prospect who had lost his two biggest bouts to date and was expected to lose again.