By Sam Volz: Tim Tszyu believes Jermell Charlo will defend his WBO junior middleweight title against him next rather than vacate his four belts to move up to 160.
Undisputed 154-lb champion Jermell has until June 20th to decide whether to defend his WBO mandatory Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) or not.
If he chooses not to, he’ll be stripped of the belt if he doesn’t vacate, and Tszyu will fight the next highest-ranked contender for the WBO belt.
Tszyu says Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) worked hard to collect his four belts, and he’s not going to want to vacate them just after having captured the last one against Brian Castano on May 14th.
Tim says he views Charlo as a “grumpy old man” because he’s frequently agitated, like an older person, bitter about this or that.
If Charlo does vacate his four belts, the perception boxing fans will have is he lost his nerve and was afraid to face Tszyu.
Moving up to 160 will put Jermell in the same position Demetrius Andrade has been in, being ignored by Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.
The opposition Jermell will get at 160 won’t be an upgrade over the fighters he’s been fighting at 154, and he’ll end up likely making less money than if he stayed put.
“It’s not sorted yet, 100%, but it’s in the making. He has no choice now,” said Tim Tszyu to Fight Hub TV about Jermell Charlo having been ordered to defend his WBO 154-lb title against him.
“Yeah, it’s going to happen. I think he’ll take it. He just won all the belts. You want to keep the belts; you don’t just want to give them away. You worked so hard.
“Charlo likes to take his time, pick his shots. He doesn’t like anything too high-paced. It’ll be interesting because my style is completely opposite to what he likes.
“I lost one round, two rounds max, and I won every round in his own backyard,” Tszyu said when told that Jermell criticized his performance against Terrell Gausha.
“He’s like a hatter. He’s like a grumpy old man; he’s always frowning, he’s always angry. Let an old man be,” said Tszyu about Jermell’s personality, which is volatile & highly explosive at all times.
“This is my Zab Judah moment,” said Tszyu in comparing his potential fight for the undisputed against Jermell to when his father fought Zab Judah for the undisputed at 140 in November 2001.
“It could be here in Australia; you never know,” said Tszyu about the fight with Jermell in his home country. I’m ready to fight wherever and I’m ready to take the four belts.
“I believe in my ability. Castano is a small man, so I’m not going to judge that performance,” Tszyu said about Jermell’s recent knockout win over WBO 154-lb champion Brian Castano in their rematch on May 14th.
“I give credit to Charlo. He’s at his peak, top ten pound-for-pound, and in his 30s,” said Tszyu.
