By Keith Idec

Jermell Charlo isn’t buying Tony Harrison’s injury excuse.

Charlo indicated during an interview with reporters Friday afternoon that Harrison faked his ankle injury when he pulled out of their rematch. Harrison and Charlo were scheduled to square off in an immediate rematch Sunday night in Las Vegas, but Harrison withdrew from it early this month.

Detroit’s Harrison reportedly underwent surgery June 5 to repair damaged ligaments in his ankle. Houston’s Charlo, who’ll instead meet Mexico’s Jorge Cota on Sunday night, suspects Harrison was planning to pull out of their second fight all along.

“Y’all know I posted it already online,” Charlo said after a press conference Friday at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. “Y’all know what I seen. I heard it. Y’all heard it. He said it in the press conference, back in LA. So, I don’t know if it’s true or not. I mean, I heard a lot of things, him getting knocked out in camp and all kind of other stuff. Y’all do y’all research, just like my people do. So, if y’all reporters, y’all know just as much as I do. But he wanted to fake the injury – he did. He said it, so I’m only going by the facts that he has shown us.

“You know, we can’t go in there and believe something that is not true. You know, we don’t have a grand jury on board, doing all the investigations. So, right now, I’m here, taking on Cota, enjoying myself, and I’m gonna get him out the way. And after that, be focused on my next route. I know my brother’s fighting the next few days after me, so I’ll be back in Houston, watching him fight. Then we’ll probably take a family vacation together. And right back into training camp, just to get ready for Harrison, who think that we’ll be sitting there, chillin.”

Harrison (28-2, 21 KOs) upset Charlo (31-1, 15 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight and won the WBC super welterweight title from the previously unbeaten ex-champion December 22 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Charlo quickly exercised the immediate rematch clause in their contracts.

If the heavily favored Charlo defeats Cota (28-3, 25 KOs), he expects for the Harrison rematch to be rescheduled for later this year.

The Charlo-Cota contest will headline a “FOX PBC Fight Night” broadcast Sunday night from Mandalay Bay Events Center (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). The three-bout broadcast also will feature Cuban southpaw Guillermo Rigondeaux (18-1, 12 KOs) in a 12-round, 122-pound WBC elimination match against Mexico’s Julio Ceja (32-3, 28 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.