By Matt Lieberman: Brian Castano is reportedly confident that he’ll defeat mandatory challenger Tim Tszyu this year if the WBO orders him to defend his 154-lb title against him next.
Ideally, Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) is hoping to face IBF/WBA/WBC champion Jermell Charlo next in a rematch to clear up the controversy surrounding their 12 round draw last Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas.
Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) appears to be stuck having to defend against his IBF mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev next after the International Boxing Federation ordered the fight.
If Charlo is unable to wriggle free from his mandated fight against the unbeaten #1 IBF Murtazaliev (19-0, 14 KOs), it might make sense for Castano to take care of his mandatory defense against the unbeaten Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) at the same time.
As long as Castano, 31, believes he can beat the Australian Tszyu, he should take that fight so that it doesn’t get in the way of his rematch with Jermell.
The rematch between Charlo and Castano will likely be shown on SHOWTIME pay-per-view due to the interest and huge buzz from their clash last weekend.
That’s another reason for the two to fight again as soon as possible so that they can take advantage of the boxing world being interested in seeing them fight again.
“Was told Castano expressed full confidence to the World Boxing Organization [WBO] that he’ll defeat Tim Tszyu if he needs to take the fight before year’s end,” said @PugBoxing.
“While [Jermell] Twin Charlo has stepped up to say he wants the Castano rematch, there’s still a question of when.
“If it’s not this year (decision expected within two weeks), the WBO tells me to expect a Castano mandatory defense against Australian hero Tim Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) this year.”
Tszyu will be a tough fight for Castano because he’s a lot younger than him, and he’s a different type of fighter than the guys he’s been facing.
There was talk this week that Tszyu might take on former WBC 154-lb champion Tony Harrison next in September and then challenge for the WBO title in December.
It’s unclear whether Tszyu will stick to that plan if the WBO orders the fight with Castano or if there’s a Charlo-Castano rematch.
Three months isn’t a lot of time for Tszyu to come back from a potentially hard fight against Harrison in September to challenge WBO junior middleweight champion Castano in December.
Tszyu is young enough to come back quickly from a fight with Harrison to face Castano, but he’d have to be injury-free. If Tszyu suffers a cut in his fight with Harrison, that could get in the way of him facing Castano in December.
Tszyu and his promoters would probably like to bring Castano over to Australia to stage the fight in front of a large crowd.
It won’t be surprising if Castano makes more money fighting Tszyu than he did last weekend in his undisputed 154-lb clash with Charlo.
Castano fought well enough to win that fight, but the judges didn’t give him any breaks with how they scored the bout.
Even the referee seemed to have an off day, blowing a call in the third round when Castano stunned Jermell with a left hook that caused him to collapse into the ropes. The referee didn’t give Castano credit for a knockdown, which he should have.
After Castano’s bad experience in San Antonio, Texas, you couldn’t blame him if he decides that he wants a neutral venue for his fight with Tszyu and potentially Jermell if they do agree to a rematch.
Tszyu has always won his fights without controversy, so Castano arguably has less to fear fighting him in Australia than a rematch with Jermell.