No Limit Boxing promoter George Rose says Tim Tszyu plans on returning to the ring in March to defend his WBO junior middleweight title against the best available opponent.
Tszyu defeated Brian Mendoza by a twelve round unanimous decision last month on October 15th in Australia in a competitive & entertaining fight.
Ideally, Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) would like to face IBF/WBA/WBC 154-lb champion Jermell Charlo for the undisputed championship. That’s not likely to happen for obvious reasons. Jermell just got a big payday in a defeat against Canelo Alvarez, and he’s already made it known that he wants Terence Crawford.
Other possibilities that Tszyu would like to face next:
Terence Crawford
Errol Spence
Jermall Charlo
Erickson Lubin
Danny Garcia
Erislandy Lara
It’s unlikely that Crawford, Spence, or either of the Charlos will show interest in fighting Tszyu next March. Lubin & Lara would likely jump at the chance to fight Tszyu, but those wouldn’t be big fights.
Lara is 40 years old and nearing the end of his career, and Lubin is one fight removed from a loss to Sebastian Fundora.
“We’ll never stop discussions with Jermell Charlo. He’s been on the radar for a very, very long time, and he’s not someone that will ever fall off, but he still holds them belts, so that’s something that Tim wants to take off him,” said George Rose, CEO of No Limit Boxing to Fox Sports Australia about Tim Tszyu wanting to challenge Jermell Charlo for his remaining IBF, WBA & WBC junior middleweight titles.
“So discussions with Jermell Charlo will continue until he’s ready to actually step in the ring, but I would say again, do not hold your breath on Jermell Charlo. We’ve held our breath multiple times before, and he hasn’t stepped into the ring.
“Let’s keep doing what Tim Tszyu does and keep getting them wins, and he has no choice but to step in the ring with the rightful kind of the 154-lb division. He’s at the point where he’s being mandated to fight for his IBF title. So, I’ll say that the other sanctioning bodies won’t be far behind.
“He’s got to fight. When you’re the champion, and you’re holding multiple belts, you’ve got to be active. Tim is someone that would do that. It doesn’t matter how many belts Tim would own; he’d fight ten times a year if he could. It’s hard to slow him down. He’s got no quit in him.
“We’re looking for the big American opportunities. So, the biggest opportunity for Tim. You’ve got Errol Spence, Terence Crawford, Jermell Charlo, Erickson Lubin, and Danny Garcia.
“Even if you move up in weight, you’ve got Jermall Charlo, you got Lara, you got Canelo, who’s only two weight divisions away. We saw that Jermell Charlo had no fear of stepping in with Canelo. That’s something that Tim would absolutely thrive on if he was given the opportunity as well.
“Any big-name fighter like that, Tim is going to jump at the opportunity, and so will we. We’ll do everything we can to make it happen. But when you’re in the red-hot form that Tim is in right now, you’re not a guy that people really want to step in the ring for anything less than a massive payday.
“We’ll wait and see how that plays out. If that doesn’t play out, then he’ll be looking at the next best guys in the 154 and looking to get a few more belts. If anything is vacated, he’ll be the first man to dive on it and put his hand up for it.
“He wants the belts, he wants big fights. That’s the two things that we choose for the next fight are availability, belts, and big names. So whoever is willing to put their hand up for Tim Tszyu is going to get a nice little surprise in Vegas.
“For what’s been the toughest test of his career to date, he pulled up really good. No injuries, feeling fresh,” said Rose about Tszyu’s recent win over Brian Mendoza. “He took a little holiday. He’s still finishing up at the moment.
“The weird thing bout Tim is he’s still running 10ks a day. It’s not something I would do on a holiday, but when you’re capable of doing it and you’re the world champion, that’s how you live your life.
“Tim is adamant that his next fight, he wants to have in the States, and we’re really excited for that too. We don’t have an official announcement next, but there’s something coming up.
“There are still a few big fights to finish off the year in the States. We’ll decide how next year’s schedule looks. As far as time is concerned, he’ll be ready to fight from March onwards, and that’s for us to lock in a worthy opponent that’s ready from that point onwards.
“The bigger and better fight that we can get, that’s what we’ll look to get, but Tim has also made it clear that he wants to be active again next year. So, an active world champion is something that global boxing isn’t used to seeing.
“Tim is ready to change the mold of what a world champion is meant to look like,” said Rose.
