Tim Tszyu says he wants to add 154-lb four-belt champion Jermell Charlo’s name to his resume after dispatching a bad-looking Carlos Ocampo in the first round last Sunday night at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.
Tszyu looked reckless with many of the power shots he threw against Ocampo. Against Jermell, he’s going to need to shorten those punches and fight more like his father, Kostya Tszyu, used to if he wants to avoid getting knocked out.
Ocampo, 28, offered little resistance against Tszyu, as he was hurt almost immediately by a mighty right hand from the WBO interim champion.
Instead of grabbing Tszyu to hold on to try and clear his head, Ocampo continued to fight and was clipped by a big right hand that sent him down for the first knockdown of the round.
Ocampo was too hurt after he got back to his feet to prevent Tszyu from finishing him with a powerful left hook to the head that put him down by the ropes.
Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) isn’t being given much credit from boxing fans on social media with the result of his first round KO of Ocampo (34-3, 22 KOs), as they point out that welterweight Errol Spence had already knocked out the Mexican fighter in a similar 1st round job in 2018.
Fans are saying that Ocampo is a “bum” and that Tszyu should have been fighting a better opponent than this guy, especially given that he’d already been knocked out in one round by the welterweight Spence.
Will Jermell Charlo fight Tszyu next?
The inactive undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is supposed to be ready to defend against Tszyu in October, but we’ll see.
Like his twin brother Jermall, who hasn’t fought in two years and seems to be enjoying his inactivity, Jermell has been out of the ring for over a year, dealing with a broken hand that has had ultra-slow healing time. But even when Jermell has been active, he’s been a once-a-year fighter since 2020.
Jermell will need to break free of the inertia that has caught hold of him if we’re to see a fight with Tszyu this year. Sometimes when a fighter makes millions and buys a huge house, nice cars, and fancy jewelry, they lose their hunger to continue fighting.
Hopefully, this isn’t the case with Jermell. If so, the World Boxing Organization will need to start thinking about stripping him so that Tszyu can fight for the WBO title instead of taking more tune-ups.