Tim Tszyu ready to face Jermell Charlo on March 19th to save the show

By Boxing News - 02/18/2022 - Comments

By Jim Calfa:  Tim Tszyu and his promoter George Rose of No Limit Promotions are ready to step in and replace injured WBO junior middleweight champion Brian Castano to face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Jermell Charlo on March 19th.

Castano’s bicep injury will delay his rematch with Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) until May or June, and that’s not suitable to the unbeaten Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs), who is the WBO mandatory for Jermell and has been waiting for his turn to challenge for the title.

Tszyu, 27, had been scheduled to face Terrell Gaushua on the Charlo-Castano II card on March 19th as the chief support bout at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

The logical thing to do for the organizers of the March 19th show is to agree to let Tszyu step in to save the event.

By doing that, the show goes on, and Jermell gets to keep his WBO 154-lb title without it being stripped from him by the sanctioning body.

Tszyu ready to face Charlo on March 19th

However, now that Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) has suffered a right bicep injury and cannot fight on that date, Tszyu is ready & willing to step in to replace him as Jermell Charlo’s opponent.

For Showtime and Charlo, it works well for Tszyu to replace Castano, as he won’t need to vacate his WBO title, which may be the case if he chooses not to defend against the Australian.

Image: Tim Tszyu ready to face Jermell Charlo on March 19th to save the show

Tszyu’s promoter George Rose wrote to the World Boxing Organization, objecting to his fighter waiting an additional two or three months for the Charlo vs. Castano 2 rematch to take place in May or June instead of March 19th.

“We’re looking to take the place of Castaño,” Tszyu’s Rose told said to FOX Sports News.

“Tim Tszyu has been in a training camp already for the last seven odd weeks. He’s happy to put his hand up and save the show, to step in against Jermell Charlo.”

“Tim has been waiting for this opportunity. He’s stayed busy, he’s kept active, he’s kept fighting and defending, and he’s ready for that mandatory challenge. Tim’s ready to go. He will fight anyone, anywhere, any time,” Rose said.

“I would like to take [his title] in the U.S and then bring it back to Australia, do it the right way,” Tszyu said.

If Charlo chooses NOT to face Tszyu on March 19th, it could mean that he’ll need to relinquish his WBO title. In that case, Jermell, 31, will still get his rematch with Castano in May or June, but it will only have three titles on the line instead of four.

Specifically, the Charlo vs. Castano II second clash WON’T be for the undisputed championship.

Jermell could lose other belts

Additionally, Charlo could also lose some of his other belts because of the delay in his rematch with Castano.

According to Dan Rafael, WBA could order Jermell to defend against his mandatory Israil Madrimov, and the IBF might force Charlo to face mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev.

The unbeaten Murtazaliev (19-0, 14 KOs) has already stepped aside on two occasions to allow Jermell to fight other opponents, and, likely, he’s not going to wait to continue to do so.

With Castano injured, there’s no way of knowing whether his bicep problem will flare up when he resumes training for the Charlo rematch, which could lead to a further delay.

Erickson Lubin will be facing Sebastian Fundora on April 9th in a WBC 154-lb title eliminator, and the winner will want his immediate title shot against Jermell.

They’re not going to want to wait around for Charlo to face Castano in a rematch that MAYBE takes place in May or June, depending on whether the Argentinian can make it through training camp without his injured bicep flaring up.

At the end of this all, there’s a possibility that by the time Charlo faces Castano in May or June for their rematch, it could be a fight with NO titles on the line for the contest.

Yeah, Charlo-Castano would still be a great fight, but it won’t be the same if both champions are stripped of ALL their titles by the sanctioning bodies. Unfortunately, that could happen.

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