Why has Jermall Charlo only fought once in three-and-a-half years?

Jermall Charlo will return to action this weekend when he fights Thomas LaManna at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Saturday. 

Charlo, 33-0 (22), has not fought since beating Jose Benavidez Jr in 2023, and has now moved to the super-middleweight division in the hopes of ending his career with a final world title run. 

He was originally scheduled to fight LaManna, 35-9-1 (17), on the Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach undercard on December 14 last year, but it was called off in the weeks before.

So, what has kept one-half of the world champion Charlo brothers out of the ring for so long? 

Injury

In 2021, Charlo was in negotiations for a fight with Jaime Munguia, but these fell through, and he accepted a fight with Maciej Sulecki instead. But this fight was curtailed by a back injury. 

After the injury postponed the fight, it was uncertain how long the Texan would be out for, and this was the catalyst to send Charlo down a path of personal struggle that went beyond any physical injury. 

Personal problems

Now, finally returning to the ring, Charlo had the opportunity to explain why he has been absent for so long. 

He said that he had been struggling with his mental health for some time. He tried to ignore the signs of this by drinking with his friends and isolating himself from the public eye, but realised this was only compounding his problems.

Charlo said: “I never got a chance to explain to my fans and the people around me about what I was going through. I was just going through a time when I needed somebody to talk to, but I held it in. I tried to play tough, I tried to have some drinks and shots, and kick it with everybody, thinking that was going to help, but I did the things that made it worse. I didn’t have the help, and I didn’t have the hugs and the love I needed.”

The former WBC champ retreated into isolation because he felt he had no one to talk to and was in the middle of a perfect storm of problems, from the injury to having his belt stripped, and legal issues in 2024. 

He said: “The WBC took the belt from me; nobody beat me for it. That was a move to let [Carlos] Adames fight for the belt; that had nothing to do with me. It looked all bad on top of me getting mug shots [for allegedly driving while intoxicated]. It looked like I was going through hell, which I was at the time.”

Charlo continued: “I didn’t have anybody to talk to about it, so I shielded myself off. I stayed home at my mansion for a week or two at a time, I wouldn’t leave.” 

Going back to what he loves is what has helped Charlo pull himself from a dark place, and he said if he didn’t have this fight, he would still be battling with his mental health.

Charlo said: “This is what I love to do, boxing is something I love to do. It helps my mental [health], but if I didn’t have this fight I would probably be going through some shit.”