By Peter Lim

Jermall Charlo's momentary lapse of sportsmanship should not detract from the masterful maneuver he executed to win the fight. The level of difficulty of the catch-and-counter Charlo used to separate Williams from his senses cannot be overstated.

It is hard enough to pull off the catch-and-counter with the same fist, let alone score a knockout with it. And the uppercut is probably the hardest punch to set up, let alone deploy as a split-second reaction counter. But it seemed almost second nature to Charlo when he blocked an incoming right cross with his right glove and instantaneously returned fire using the same hand with pinpoint accuracy to seal his victory.

The maneuver was not just brilliant, it might well be unprecedented in the history of championship-level boxing. If there are any readers out there who know of a similar catch-and-counter sequence that led to a stoppage in a major fight, please post a comment and tell us about it.

Charlo's latest victory also unveiled some other interesting qualities about the fighter:

-- When a fighter drops his opponents with a mere jab in three out of four title fights, make no mistake about it; it is the real deal. Not since Mark Breland has a fighter been able to not just stun, but seriously hurt other men of equal size with the most basic punch in boxing. Pound for pound, Charlo might have the best jab in the sport today.

-- With his latest win, Charlo has scored knockdowns and knockouts with every punch in the book - left jab, left hook, left uppercut, right cross and right uppercut. The only weapon that has yet to emerge from his arsenal is body punching.

-- He has a pretty decent set of whiskers. Charlo's punch resistance was a question mark before the Williams fight but he absorbed everything Williams landed with aplomb, unflinchingly returning fire with composure each time he was nailed by a clean shot.

-- In the process of passing the chin test, the fact that Williams was able to connect with flush punches throughout the encounter exposed the holes in Charlo's defense. Slicker, more experienced fighters the likes of Canelo, Triple G and Danny Jacobs might be able to exploit the chinks in Charlo's armor more effectively than Williams.

-- Charlo appears overly concerned about his public persona and what his opponents, the media and fans say about him. Against Williams, he was able to contain his frustrations until after the fight was over but as his stardom grows, he might find it harder to keep his emotions in check.

Originally published at: http://peterliminator.blogspot.com/2016/12/jermall-charlo-vs-julian-williams.html