For more than a year, all that Brian Castano thought about was getting in the ring and walking away with a title around his waist.
With both of those goals met, it’s now time to set his sights on the rest of the junior middleweight division. Fortunately for the unbeaten Argentine boxer, there is a surplus of such talent under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner where he returns as a reigning titlist.
“PBC has a lot of big names at junior middleweight. I didn’t pay attention to any of them, all of my focus was on getting Patrick Teixeira out of the way,” Castano told BoxingScene.com. “Now the goal is face all of these guys and to become undisputed champion.”
Argentina’s Castano (17-0-1, 12KOs) was out of the ring for more than 15 months by the time he was able to challenge for Teixeira’s WBO 154-pound titlist. Their February 13th clash ended with Castano earning a decisive 12-round decision to end Teixeira’s reign without a single successful title defense.
The win was additionally significant in that PBC now controls all of the major titles in the division. Jermell Charlo (34-1, 18KOs) is the recognized lineal champ, having earned that status following an 8th round knockout of Jeison ‘Banana’ Rosario in their WBC/WBA/IBF unification clash last September atop a Showtime Pay-Per-View event.
The next logical step would be to get the two of them in the ring.
“We definitely want the fight. We have been told by [adviser and PBC creator] Al Haymon that Charlo wants the fight as well,” Sebastian Contursi, Castaño’s manager told BoxingScene.com. “As far as we know, all of the sanctioning bodies are on board.
“The only issue might be the IBF, I know they have their mandatory challenger (Bakhram Murtazaliev) who is waiting for his title shot. So, we will see.”
Ideally, a straightaway undisputed championship showdown would be the most desired option. For Castaño, the order in which these fights matters little. Charlo remains his next desired target, although he won’t be short on quality alternatives.
“I’m ready for them all,” vows Castano. “I want to be much more active this year, no more long layoffs between fights. I want to fight at least two more times this year and with Charlo first if we can make that happen. Whether that fight happens next or I have to face someone else first, it doesn’t matter.
“It can be Charlo, Tony Harrison, Jarrett Hurd, maybe a rematch with Erislandy Lara (whom Castano fought to a draw in April 2019), ‘Banana’ Rosario, Julian Williams. I want to beat everyone that PBC can get in the ring with me.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBo
