By Brian Webber: WBO interim junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu will take a fight in June after learning that undisputed 154-lb champion Jermell Charlo will need more time to return from his broken left hand.
Tszyu isn’t saying who he’ll fight in June, but it’s likely to be a top 15 contender. Hopefully, Tszyu didn’t scare away potential options.
Ideal potential opponents for Tszyu’s June fight:
- Danny Garcia
- Jesus Ramos
- Liam Smith
- Erickson Lubin
- Israil Madrimov
- Brian Castano
- Charles Conwell
- Xander Zayas
- Bakhram Murtazaliev
- Sebastian Fundora
Rather than sit & wait for Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) to be ready, Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) plans on staying busy by taking a fight in June against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
Charlo vs. Tszyu was originally supposed to take place last January, but it needed to be delayed after Jermell suffered a broken left-hand training. Tszyu then took a stay-busy fight against former 154-lb champion Tony Harrison last March and looked impressive in stopping him.
Tszyu suspects that Jermell watched his recent ninth round knockout victory over former WBC junior middleweight champion Tony Harrison on March 12th and realizes now what he’s up against, so he wants additional time to prepare.
Oh, for sure,” said Tim Tszyu to FOX Sports Au about his being upset about the further delay for his fight against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo.
“The bloke hasn’t fought for 12 months,” Tszyu said of Charlo. “How long can you keep postponing a fight? I’m not sure, but the medical reports say so. All I can do is focus on myself.
The 32-year-old Jermell hasn’t fought in eleven months since his tenth round knockout of WBO 154-lb champion Brian Castano last May in their rematch in Carson, California.
Charlo looked good in that fight, showing improvements over their first fight a year earlier in July 2021, which was scored as a twelve-round draw.
Given Jermell’s age and his lack of activity, fighting once a year since 2020, he could have problems when he does return to the ring against Tszyu.
When the fight was first discussed, many boxing fans felt it would be a mismatch in favor of Charlo. But now, with the hand injury and the delay in recovery time, it’s questionable whether Charlo will win.
“I think he understands this isn’t an easy fight for him, so he wants to be 120 percent ready. I think before he was taking me lightly,” said Tszyu.