Unbeaten Charlo hurts back to force title fight postponement

WASHINGTON – Undefeated Jermall Charlo suffered a back injury that has forced the postponement of his scheduled June 18 World Boxing Council middleweight title bout against Poland's Maciej Sulecki, promoters announced Monday (Tuesday, Manila time).

The 32-year-old American was injured in training to prepare to face Sulecki, 30-2 with 11 knockouts, at Houston, Texas.

No new date for the 12-round fight was announced pending a medical assessment of when Charlo could resume training.

Charlo, 32-0 with 22 knockouts, had been set to defend his title for the fifth time in his career a full year after his most recent bout — a unanimous decision victory over Mexico's Juan Macias Montiel at Houston.

The setback delays any possible unification fight for Charlo with the 160-pound (72.6kg) division's top star, Kazak fighter Gennady Golovkin, who owns the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation middleweight crowns.

Charlo's identical twin brother, Jermell Charlo, is the undisputed world junior middleweight champion after a knockout victory last month over Argentina's Brian Castano.