Jermell Charlo did all of the leg work needed to become an undisputed champion. He violently stopped Tony Harrison in their rematch, used a body shot to get rid of Jeison Rosario, and KO’d Brian Castano after being forced to settle for a majority decision draw the first time around. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
The 154-pound division was essentially cleaned out. Except, of course, for Tim Tszyu. The Aussie star has been Charlo’s WBO mandatory for quite some time now. The 28-year-old has barked and complained for a shot at Charlo but his constant yelling hasn’t led to the sort of results he was hoping for.
In an effort to placate Tszyu, the sanctioning body placed the interim tag on the line in his showdown against Tony Harrison. After putting the 32-year-old out of his misery in the ninth, Tszyu defended his secondary title against Carlos Ocampo, wiping him out in just over a minute. Still, even with the Aussie proving himself, he wanted what he believed he earned…a fight against Charlo.
Ultimately, Tszyu’s hooting and hollering hasn’t concerned the undisputed champion in the slightest. In fact, while he initially planned on facing him, Charlo went in another direction. With Canelo Alvarez flashing a whole lot of cash in his direction, the 33-year-old has officially decided to move up two weight classes to face him for all of the super middleweight marbles.
It’s both a chance at history and the opportunity to fatten his bank account. But while he’s busy hitting the weight room, the WBO isn’t leaving Tszyu out of the mix.
For now, the sanctioning body will allow Charlo to hold onto their title all the way until fight night. However, once the opening bell rings, he’ll be stripped and Tszyu will be elevated.
Charlo, needless to say, wasn’t too happy about their decision. When recently speaking to a group of reporters, the Houston native asked them to use whatever power they have to reach out to the WBO to reconsider their choice.
“Y’all write the WBO and tell them give me belt back and don’t touch it. Tell them don’t touch my belt.”
Charlo can huff and puff all he wants but the sanctioning body appears ready to move forward with their decision. To a certain extent, Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) has decided to look at the bright side of things. Just because he plans on packing on the pounds, it doesn’t mean that he intends on staying in the super middleweight division going forward.
The sweat equity that the pugnacious champion has put in has him vexed over the entire situation. Although a win over Alvarez will make him just the third fighter in history to become an undisputed champion in two separate weight classes, neither Claressa Shields nor Terence Crawford were active champions in their previous divisions at the time. Charlo though, if it weren’t for the WBO, was hoping to become the first.
“It only makes sense for me to fight and win and have eight belts active.”