By Matt Lieberman: Tim Tszyu will make a title defense of his interim WBO junior middleweight belt against the hard-hitting Carlos Ocampo tonight, live on Showtime at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT
The 27-year-old native of Mexico Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) has a lot of power and will make it enjoyable as long as it lasts against Tszyu.
In Ocampo’s last fight, he lost a competitive twelve round unanimous decision to former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora last October in Carson, California. The scores were 117-111, 118-110, and 119-109.
Some boxing fans believe that Ocampo softened Fundora up for Brian Mendoza to knockout in their fight last April. Mendoza destroyed Fundora in seven rounds, ending his short title reign as the interim WBC champ.
Tim Tszyu vs Ocampo Start Time
Tim Tszyu – Carlos Ocampo takes place at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Queensland, and will be streamed live on Showtime and Kayo Sports in AUS:
- New York, USA (Eastern Time): 11:30 pm ET on Saturday, 17th June 2023
- London, UK (British Summer Time): 2 am on Sunday, 18th June 2023
- Australia: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and ACT – 12pm AEST. South Australia, Northern Territory – 11:30am ACST. 18th June
Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) will be taking another stay-busy fight while he waits for undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo to heal from his broken left hand.
Fans on social media are calling for the WBO to strip Jermell of his WBO 154-lb title, as he’s not defended it since May 2022 when he stopped Brian Castano in the tenth.
Champions are supposed to defend their titles at least annually, and it becomes a problem when they sit on a belt for over a year without making any defenses. Interestingly, Charlo’s brother Jermall hasn’t defended his WBC middleweight title in two years since 2021, and he’s not been stripped or downgraded to ‘Champion in Recess’ by the sanctioning body.
Charlo was supposed to defend against Tszyu last January, but his slowly healing hand foiled those plans. Tszyu, 28, opted to stay active and defeated former WBC 154-lb champion Tony Harrison by a ninth round knockout on March 12th in Sydney, Australia.
It’ll be interesting to see if Tszyu will take additional tune-up fights while he waits for Charlo to return to the ring to defend against him. If Tszyu is still taking tune-up next April without Charlo being ready, you got to be concerned about whether he’ll ever get a shot.
It would be better if Tszyu went the IBF route for his title shot against Jermell because that’s sanctioning body that doesn’t play around. They’ll order Charlo to defend against Tszyu, and if he fails to do so, they will strip him.
Tszyu has looked impressive with his wins over Tony Harrison, Terrell Gausha, Takeshi Inoue, Steve Spark, and Dennis Hogan.
Tim Tszyu
“I’ve had these two words of Spanish going through my mind: ‘No más.’ That’s the type of fight I intend to do. That’s my intention [to make him quit].
“[Jermell] Charlo is the No. 1 priority. That’s the name that I want on my resume.
“As you play in video games, there’s a big boss and you’ve got to get rid of all these little bosses on the way to the big boss. Ocampo is next, but Charlo is the big boss I’ve got my eyes on. I believe in myself. I believe in what I go through and I think the opportunity will come.
“My biggest growth is in managing my emotions. You’ll see on fight night. You’re going to see a guy who’s in total control. I feel like I’m mastering controlling my emotions, more than my skills or IQ in the ring. You’ll see what I mean.
“I think I’ve dealt with pressure my whole life so this is nothing. We do this for fun and for the love of the sport. I feel blessed to do this over and over, to be able to come to this press conference and build relationships, so there is no pressure.
“I’m not overlooking anyone. Every time I get into a fight, it’s the same thing for me. I train six hours a day nonstop, it doesn’t matter the opponent. He says I’m underestimating him but that’s complete nonsense. I respect the sport and I’m in the gym training every day.
“I think [my mentality] is just based on the position that I’m in. It’s got nothing to do with him. He’s a top fighter. Whoever they put in front of me I’ll annihilate them. If it’s King Kong or a shark or a pit bull. I’m coming back for another round.
“I think this will be my greatest victory.”
Carlos Ocampo
“I took the fight against Tim Tszyu because he represents an important challenge in my career. He is the one who holds the title today, and on June 18 he will understand what it is to meet a Mexican.
“I will beat Tim Tszyu, make no mistake. This has been the best preparation of my career. The sparring was better than that of many world champions and my work won’t be in vain even though I have to go to the other side of the world.
“We Mexicans are different. We are distinguished fighters, we are real, we come to fight. Here [in Mexico] boxers fight to win breakfast tomorrow and the rest of the world doesn’t understand that. I’m going to fight to bring the title home.
“We’ll see a war, if Tim wants it, and if he doesn’t, I’ll show him what it’s like to have 10,000 people watching him go down at home.
“I will not be a defeated Mexican like the one his father saw, I will be Julio César Chávez in his prime, defeating Macho Camacho.
“I hope Tim’s nightmares weren’t as bad as the one awaiting him on fight day. I have extra space in my suitcase to take his title back to Mexico!”
TSZYU – OCAMPO FIGHT CARD
- Tim Tszyu vs. Carlos Ocampo; Light middleweight
- Sam Goodman vs. Ra’eese Aleem; Super bantamweight
- Justin Frost vs. Hassan Hamdan; Super lightweight
- Hasely Hepi vs. Troy Pilcher; Heavyweight
- Vegas Larfield vs. Jhunrille Castino; Super bantamweight
- Rocky Ogeden vs. Mark Schleibs; Catchweight (126lbs)
- Liam Talivaa vs. Isaac Liki; Heavyweight