Jermell Charlo knocks Jeison Rosario out with scary body shot to gain two more titles

Jermell Charlo knocked out Jeison Rosario in round 8 to add the WBA and IBF junior middleweight titles to his collection. He controls the division.

Jeison Rosario stunned Julian Williams with his TKO win in 5 in January. He became the IBF and WBA junior welterweight champion overnight. Going into his Sept. 26 bout with Jermell Charlo, Rosario wanted to prove that his win over Williams wasn’t a fluke. Charlo had different ideas.

Charlo regained the WBC title after stopping Tony Harrison in round 11 of their rematch, avenging the only loss on his record. Charlo entered his contest with Rosario with respect but felt superior to any fighter in the division.

Charlo put Rosario down barely a minute into their match. He dropped Rosario with a left hook, but Rosario looked more off-balance than hurt. It counted against him on the cards all the same. Charlo boxed well and moved around the ring with ease.

Rosario looked composed to start round 2, but Charlo scored using his faster hands. Rosario landed heavy hooks to Charlo’s body in a fairly even round.

Round 3 went well for Rosario. He kept Charlo backing up and mixed in punches high and low. Charlo scored too, but Rosario used his large 5-foot-11 frame to force Charlo into retreat.

Charlo appeared frustrated in round 4. He tried to keep Rosario off of him with the jab but had to get on his toes to avoid the charging Rosario. Charlo’s punches weren’t accurate, and Rosario intimidated him.

Jermell Charlo wanted to make a statement against Jeison Rosario and did just that.

Charlo’s inactivity cost him round 5, but he boxed well in round 6. The referee warned Rosario for low blows, but that wasn’t his biggest problem.

Rosario had a decent round to start, but Charlo caught him with a left hook in the final seconds and dropped Rosario for the second time. The left hook hurt Rosario, but Charlo added two more punches that sent him down. Rosario got up, and the bell rang.

Rosario looked steady on his legs in round 7. Charlo took his foot off the gas pedal, and Rosario recovered.

Things got scary in round 8. Charlo pegged Rosario with a jab to the body, and Rosario crumpled flat to the canvas. He looked like he was convulsing from the body shot. The referee stopped the fight as Rosario was in obvious distress.

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Rosario got up in pain but looked much better than when he went down. The knockout punch looked innocuous but caused serious damage.

With his stoppage of Rosario, Charlo now has three of the four junior middleweight titles. Patrick Teixeira has the WBO title, but Charlo has his choice of opponents now that he owns the division.