Jermell Charlo vs. Tim Tszyu agreed for WBO for 154-lb fight

By Boxing News - 06/11/2022 - Comments

By Sam Volz: WBO president Paco Valcarcel is reporting that undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and Tim Tszyu have agreed to a fight.

The date still needs to be ironed out for the fight, but the two have agreed. With the Charlo vs. Tszyu fight being agreed, the June 20th date for the purse bid with the World Boxing Organization won’t be needed.

Charlo vs. Tszyu could take place in November or December, according to ESPN Knockout due to the other months already having big fights. Moving the fight to the last two months of 2022 will help ensure the fight doesn’t face heavy competition.

Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) is Jermell’s WBO mandatory challenger, having recently defeated Terrell Gausha on March 26th to put himself in position as the mandatory for Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs).

“They told us that they have an agreement and that they are looking for a date because big fights are coming and this is one of them,” Paco Valcárcel said to ESPN KNOCKOUT.

Jermell, 32, recently stopped WBO 154-lb champion Brian Castano in the tenth round to become the undisputed champion on May 14th in their rematch.

It’s great news that the Charlo-Tszyu fight has been agreed on, as it was thought that Charlo might choose to vacate his four titles and move up to 160 to begin campaigning in that weight class.

Tszyu is a bigger puncher than the guys Charlo has been fighting, but he lacks experience, defensive skills, and hand speed.

He’s a little green to be fighting an experienced guy like Charlo right now, but he doesn’t have a choice. If Tszyu doesn’t fight the unbeaten Jermell now, he may lose out because he’s going to be moving up to 160 soon.

Tszyu has got the power to give Jermell a lot of problems, but it’s unclear whether he’s going to be able to stay around long enough to land his big shots.

If Tszyu can make some fast improvements in the training camp, he could be ready to dethrone Jermell, but right now, it’s not looking good. The way Tszyu looked in his last fight against Terrell Gausha, he’s going to have problems against Charlo.

Jermell’s twin brother, Jermall, is expected to be given a massive money title shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in 2023.

It’s believed that’s why Jermall is choosing to fight soft opposition this year so that he won’t get beaten before getting the fight against Canelo. Once Jermall goes up to 168, Jermell is likely to move to 160 to go after the belts.

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