Talk about a twist nobody, as in NOBODY saw coming. Fans have no doubt read the news of how, on September 30, Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez will now face Jermell Charlo, not Jermall Charlo. Middleweight Charlo is still dealing with some personal issues and his already two-year layoff will be extended. This has allowed twin brother Jermell, the undisputed 154 pound champ, to take the ultimate challenge, that of going up two weight divisions to tackle Canelo, who holds all the belts at 168 pounds.
The ultimate challenge? Though what 154 pound Charlo is doing is indeed a huge challenge, one he will receive much credit for taking, plenty of fans felt Charlo had a real and serious challenge facing him in the form of his much-delayed WBO mandatory defence against the unbeaten Tim Tszyu. Tszyu, who currently holds the WBO interim belt, has now lost out on his big chance once again (Charlo initially pulling out of the Tszyu fight due to a hand injury), and who knows, Tszyu may now never get his shot at Charlo; Charlo being a man Tszyu and plenty of other people felt he would have beaten had they fought this year.
So, on the one hand, we get an intriguing fight in September, a historic fight, with the Canelo-Charlo fight to be the first-ever undisputed Vs. undisputed fight here in the four-belt era. On the other hand, a hard working fighter who has more than earned his shot loses out through absolutely zero fault of his own. Yes, Tszyu will likely be elevated to full WBO champion at the weight, but this will come as no real compensation. Tszyu wants that Charlo fight. He earned it and he’s been waiting for it since last year.
Tszyu is understandably angry, and he has put out a short message on instagram letting us know his feeling on what’s happened:
“Canelo ducks (David) Benavidez. Charlo ducks Tszyu,” he wrote.
It’s easy to climb on Tszyu’s side here, yet at the same time, Charlo gets a pass, a big one, for agreeing to fight Canelo. Tszyu is the big loser here, of that there is no doubt. Closing in on what he and his supporters were certain was certain victory over Charlo, the Australian warrior is now left with no obvious next fight.
What happens if Charlo causes the upset and he defeats Canelo, will be stay at 168, thus never facing Tszyu at 154? What if Charlo takes a bad beating in the Canelo fight, might he retire afterwards?
Again, it’s admirable what Charlo is doing yet at the same time it’s impossible not to have a great deal of sympathy for Tszyu. One could ask this question, why is Canelo fighting a 154 pound champion (albeit one who is pretty big for the weight) when he has other, more fan-demanded fights out there that would have seen him fight legit super-middleweights – Benavidez obviously top of the list as Tszyu alluded to?
Again, nobody saw the September 30 match-up in Vegas coming.