In a massive fight on October 15th, WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) will take on WBC interim champ Brian Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) in a twelve round contest. In Australia. The fight will be shown live on Foxtel’s Main Event and Kayo Sports.
With undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo gone, having moved up to 168 to make some money, Tszyu vs.
Mendoza is easily the best fight that can be made in the division. The winner of the fight will hold two belts and will be in an enviable position for lucrative fights against Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, or Jermell.
Mendoza looked sensational in his last fight, stopping Sebastian Fundora in the seventh round last April in Carson, California.
Tszyu, 28, deserves a lot of respect for taking this risky fight against Mendoza because he easily could have taken an easier match-up and waited for the smoke to clear from the Canelo vs. Charlo fight to see if Jermell would return to the 154-lb division.
Provided Jermell doesn’t return to the 154-lb division this year, the Tszyu vs. Mendoza winner could move to face Crawford or Spence next.
George Rose: “Look, there’s no rest for us. We love keeping the public entertained and love putting on fights. So we’re very excited that we can announce that Tim Tszyu will be fighting Brian Mendoza in his next fight and a hell of a fight.
“When you’ve got a guy like Tim Tszyu who wants to make a statement and who wants to take on the best in the division, Brian Mendoza is that guy. He’s the WBC champ, and he’s the guy that’s the next best in the division.
“Absolutely, after what he did to [Sebastian] Fundora and what he’s been doing in the super worldwide division, he’s the next best
guy, the next most exciting guy outside of Tim Tszyu because Tim Tszyu is the one that’s on everyone’s forever everybody’s lips.
“Look, that’s a crazy thing. Brian Mendoza is very similar to Tim Tszyu in that he had no hesitation in that. When you think about the position that both of these guys are in, they don’t need to take this fight.
“Both of them could be picking off much lesser guys in the division, but both of these guys want to make a statement. So when Brian Mendoza was asked to come down, he had no hesitation, and coming off the back of two upset wins for him against the odds showed what he can do in fights that he wasn’t meant to win.
“He’s got no fear of stepping in against Tim Tszyu, which is for us as a boxing viewing public, it’s very exciting for us knowing that there are two guys with no fear who are going to step in there and put everything on the line for our entertainment.
“These two guys are the best in the in the super world division. I actually think that both of these guys could knock off Charlo on the day, and Charlo arguably has been the undisputed champ. He is at the top of the tree, but these guys are both capable of finishing him off.
“We’ve seen what Brian Mendoza can do. He’s got power late in the fight. Charlo is fighting Canelo. There are big fights out there that are being talked about for Tim Tszyu. We saw the Spence-Crawford fight. Tim Tszyu’s name was in the mix on the back of that.
“Everybody who’s a big name in around that super welterweight division, they’re all calling out Tszyu because he’s exciting. He’s a guy that will fight anyone at any time.”
