Tim Tszyu Upgraded To Full WBO Junior Middleweight Titlist
BY
JAKE DONOVAN
Published Sun Oct 01, 2023, 04:12 AM EDT
Jermell Charlo left the ring with one more loss and one less belt than when the night began.
Tim Tszyu was officially upgraded to WBO junior middleweight titlist the moment Charlo’s name was announced ahead of his failed challenge of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s fully unified super middleweight crown. An event billed as ‘Undisputed vs. Undisputed’ rang true until the pre-fight introductions, at which point Tszyu advanced from his previous interim title status to full titleholder per an August 3 ruling which permitted Alvarez-Charlo to move forward.
Confirmation of the move came in a ruling from the WBO who approved full sanction of Tszyu’s forthcoming October 15 title defense versus Brian Mendoza in Broadbeach, Australia.
As noted by WBO Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas, “[T]his sanction letter incorporates by reference the provisions set forth in the WBO World Championship Committee “Resolution” dated August 3, 2023, and therefore, adopts as a condition thereto the following provisions:
I. The WBO will sanction Canelo/Charlo scheduled for September 30, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada;
II. Charlo will be allowed to enter the ring as WBO Champion and be announced as such (WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion);
III. after Charlo enters the ring on September 30, 2023, and is officially introduced as WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion, his status and recognition as WBO Champion is terminated “Ipso Facto”;
IV. after Charlo’s WBO Champion status and recognition is terminated pursuant to the conditions set forth in the referenced WBO “Resolution,” Tim Tszyu will be automatically elevated from Interim Champion to Full Champion status.”
Houston’s Charlo (35-2-1, 19KOs) was previously on the hook to face New South Wales’ Tszyu (23-0, 17KOs) in a mandatory title defense. Their bout was scheduled for January 28 in Las Vegas, but Charlo withdrew due to a broken hand injury suffered in mid-December.
Tszyu was permitted to fight for the WBO’s interim junior middleweight title, which he claimed in a ninth-round knockout of former WBC titleholder Tony Harrison on March 12 in Sydney. He defended the belt in a 77-second wipeout of Carlos Ocampo on June 18 at Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, where he will now return as a full titleholder.
The concession made by the WBO allowed Charlo to enter the T-Mobile Arena as the undisputed junior middleweight champion, a status which no longer held true once the opening bell rang for Saturday’s Showtime Pay-Per-View main event. Charlo went on to lose a lopsided decision to Alvarez (60-2-2, 39KOs) in a disappointing performance but without the rest of his junior middleweight hardware at stake given the two-weight jump.
Charlo remains the lineal, WBC, WBA and IBF champion. It is now up to the WBA and IBF to enforce those mandatories. He suggested an immediate return to 154 but has been dismissive about a fight with Tszyu and instead called for a showdown with three-division and undisputed welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.
The team for Israil Madrimov plans to pursue the WBA to enforce the Uzbek’s due title challenge. Bakhram Murtazaliev (21-0, 15KOs) previously had paperwork in place that guaranteed a shot at Charlo following his tenth-round knockout win of Brian Castano in their rematch last May 14 to fully unify the division. The 30-year-old Russian has been content, however, to collect step-aside payments and face middling opposition.
Meanwhile, Tszyu now joins his Hall of Fame father Kostya Tszyu as a recognized major titleholder. The second-generation boxer preferred to face Charlo for the belt. He instead settled for an active 2023 campaign where he will now enter his third fight of the year and now in possession of the title he has pursued for more than a year.
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