Undisputed Super Welterweight champion Jermell Charlo will defend his four world titles against Tim Tszyu on January 28, 2023.
The news was broken yesterday by leading Australian boxing commentator Ben Damon who had Tszyu, and his brother Nikita, as guests on the latest episode of the Main Event Boxing Podcast.
Damon tweeted that Tszyu had wanted the fight to take place in October, but PBC (Premier Boxing Champions, Charlo’s promoters) and the venue (unknown) have extremely busy schedules.
Tim is the WBO mandatory challenger but his position as the front-runner to fight Charlo next was recently placed under threat. Last month representatives of IBF mandatory challenger Bakhram Murtazaliev revealed they had an agreement in place with the champion that the Russian would be first in line provided Charlo beat Brian Castaño in their rematch. The previous month Charlo knocked out the Argentinian in the tenth round.
There has been no indication how the matter has been resolved. But for Tszyu, son of the legendary Kostya, there is now relief that he can plan ahead for the biggest fight of his career.
“Finally. It’s been a long time in the making. I’m so glad that we got the news, the nod ahead so now it’s all go.”
Having seen a spanner thrown in the works Damon asked the 27-year-old what the wait had been like.
“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. It was frustrating but now that it is a go ahead, we’re getting it on.”
Tszyu was in California to take in Charlo-Castaño 2 which came two months after his own American debut against Terrell Gausha. The Australian gave his views on the champion.
“He’s a smart, slick boxer. He’s in the pound-for-pound list, he’s a good boxer, he’s the undisputed champ for a reason. I believe that this is my era. I’m coming for it all. I’m not here to just grab the belts, I’m here to keep them.”
He added:
“I think he’s got a few holes that can be exploited. He’s not a perfect boxer, he’s got holes there. Every style is there to be exploited. Just gotta find the weakness and take them with both hands.”
Although there has been no official confirmation for Charlo v Tszyu the American did take to Instagram to report that news was incoming.
“Ain’t done yet. Unleash the lion and let me rumble.”
Charlo then added the United States and Australian flags to his post giving a clear indication that 2023 will kick off with a bang.