By Huck Allen: WBO junior middleweight champion Brian Castano says he’s willing to face the highly ranked contenders Tim Tszyu & Sebastian Fundora after losing to unified champion Jermell Charlo last Saturday night.
If it makes business sense, Castano (17-1-2, 12 KOs) says he’s willing to face Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) or ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs).
Beating either of those two top contenders would put Castano right back in position to challenge undisputed champion Charlo in a trilogy match.
Castano, 32, fought well last Saturday night before folding in the tenth round after being dropped twice by the heavy-handed Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) in the main event on Showtime Championship Boxing at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
The difference between the first and second fight with Jermell for Castano was the movement that he added. Charlo added more movement for the rematch, and the Argentinian Castano was slow in cutting off the ring.
When he did close the distance, he was getting repeatedly caught by Charlo with eye-catching shots. By the tenth round, the situation looked desperate for Castano, as he was well behind in the fight, tired, and no longer firing on all eight cylinders.
The lanky southpaw Fundora would be the more difficult style match-up for the 5’7′ Castano, considering he would be giving away an incredible 10 1/2″ inches in height to Fundora, and that might prove to be too much.
Unlike the 27-year-old Tszyu, Fundora has a ton of experience against top-level opposition against these fighters:
Jorge Cota
Erickson Lubin
Sergio Garcia
Habib Ahmed
Nathaniel Gallimore
Jamontay Clark
“First of all, I didn’t know he was present,” said Brian Castano at the post-fight press conference about how Tim Tszyu would do against Jermell Charlo.
“He’s a great fighter, but he’s not ready for [Jermell] Charlo,” Castano continued about Tszyu. “He should face another opponent before that, even though he looked great against Terrell Gausha.”
Castano brings up a good point by saying Tszyu isn’t ready to fight Jermell Charlo yet. In terms of high-caliber fighters, Tszyu has only fought Terrell Gausha, Takeshi Inoue, Jeff Horn, and Dennis Hogan.
In Tszyu’s last fight against Gausha, he struggled and barely won a 12-round unanimous decision. That fight showed clearly that Tszyu needs more experience before challenging Charlo.
“This is a business, and I knew he was looking after me,” said Castano. “So if I’m offered a fight against him, and it makes sense, this is business, then I would take it.
“I’ll fight anybody because I love the tough challenges. You’re right; this division is really hot at the moment. I’ll face anyone they put in front of me, and especially I would like to fight people that they would like me to fight,” said Castano.
