German boxer Mahmoud Charr is heavyweight champion again – after an amicable end to a long legal farce about the title he was stripped of. Curious: The WBA now has two world champions.
German boxer Mahmoud Charr has once again been named world heavyweight champion by the world federation WBA as part of a court settlement.
The Cologne native with Syrian-Lebanese roots, who was stripped of the title in December 2021 for failing to defend his title in time, must defend his world title crown against Jarrell Miller before 14 October, however, according to WBA terms.
The agreement reached put an end to a “long legal battle brought on by the boxer and his team”, a statement from the federation said.
Manuel Charr is world champion again – together with Usyk
After Ukrainian Alexander Usyk’s early win over Daniel Dubois last Saturday, the WBA now has two world heavyweight champions.
Charr’s title defence against Miller is to be held in South Africa as “Rumble In The Jungle 2”, according to the latter’s team. “Baby Big Miller. The fight is on. Rumble in the Jungle,” Charr wrote on Instagram on Friday, addressing Miller: “I hope you’re ready. It’s time for war.” If the 38-year-old wins the fight, he will then have to face a challenger selected by the WBA.
Charr had won the WBA world title against Russian Alexander Ustinov in 2017 and was considered the first German heavyweight world champion since Max Schmeling. This was followed by a media farce about a German passport, which Charr later admitted he did not have, before he finally received his naturalisation certificate in the summer of 2021.
Because Charr did not defend his title for a long time, he was considered a “world champion in waiting” before the WBA stripped him of the title at the end of 2021. Charr blamed this on the notorious promoter icon Don King, among others, who is said to have prevented important fights by Charr such as the world title fight in Florida against the US American Trevor Bryan.
Charr is currently preparing for his comeback in Seefeld, Austria.
