Tim Tszyu is understandable angry at the way his earned shot at unified 154 pound champ Jermell Charlo has been put on hold (for how long we do not know) – this as Charlo gets ready for his wholly unexpected, in fact you could say shocking challenge of unified super-middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez.
Tszyu, who has been the WBO mandatory challenger at 154 for longer than he cares to remember, should have fought Charlo in January, only for Charlo to suffer a hand injury and be forced to postpone the fight. A new date was planned, yet Charlo then got the bombshell of an announced fight with Canelo – Charlo to move up two weight divisions for the big opportunity/payday.
So where does this leave Tszyu? It leaves him hopping mad, understandably. Speaking with Fight Hub TV, Tszyu, 23-0(17) said Charlo should be stripped of his 154 pound titles, this as his taking of the Canelo fight “holds up the the whole (154 pound) division.”
Should Charlo be stripped of his belts? Tszyu sure thinks so:
“I thought it was a joke at first, because the whole time I thought, it was getting discussed, I thought his big older brother was going to fight Canelo,” Tszyu said when speaking about how he felt when he learned Jermell was going to fight Canelo. “So I thought it was a joke at first and then when it was actually official I was a bit in shock, I didn’t understand what was going on at the time. But, yeah, it is what it is. I say (to my manager) ‘this is a piss take, right.’
“Any fighter would (take the Canelo fight). Canelo is the man of boxing, he’s the face of boxing. So if anyone gets offered that fight they’re gonna take it. I think the fact that he (Charlo) hasn’t fought in nearly a year and a half, I’ve been the WBO mandatory for nearly, what, nearly three years now. And it’s too much politics. If he’s not fighting then the belts have to be vacated, it’s quite simple. It’s not fair because the whole division is being held up by him. So it just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
On the one hand, you cannot disagree with Tszyu. On the other hand, you really cannot blame Charlo for going for the pot of gold that is the Canelo fight.
But in terms of fairness, Tszyu has to get his shot soon. Whether it comes against Charlo or whether it comes against TBA for a vacated belt or two.
Again, Tszyu is angry right now, and who can blame him?