The super welterweight division is a bit thin in terms of top-tier talent on the championship level. It isn’t the glamor weight class that it once was, but Tim Tszyu has a few options, emphasis on the word few.
This Saturday night, the 28-year-old will be taking on one of those contenders when he faces Brian Mendoza. If everything goes according to plan, that’ll be another respectable name added to his list. Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) has already beaten both Terrell Gausha and Tony Harrison while making quick work of Carlos Ocampo.
Of course, Jermell Charlo is still at the top of his hit list but who knows if he’ll officially come back down in weight after making a transient appearance in the super middleweight division. If Tszyu wants to be a part of this era’s super fights, he may need a fighter or two to move up, most notably, Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis.
If either of those fighters decide that they want to brazenly stomp around the 154-pound division, Tszyu revealed that he would be more than willing to be the worst host they ever had.
“If the boys do move up, I’m willing to take any big challenge there is,” said Tszyu to FightHype.com during a recent interview.
Ennis isn’t likely to make the move, but Crawford seems to be on the verge of pulling the trigger on that decision. He already aggregated every 147-pound title and wants to become boxing’s first three-division undisputed champion.
Canelo Alvarez is his preferred choice but if the newly turned 36-year-old suddenly has a change of heart and decides to move up one division as opposed to three, Tszyu could be an option. Ultimately, the Aussie native won’t twiddle his thumbs and wait around. Making the 154-pound limit is becoming more and more arduous.
Crawford won’t have all day to make his choice. Neither will anyone else at 147 pounds looking to make the jump. With that said, if they want to try their hands at knocking him off, they’ll have to act quickly.
“I’m not gonna be too long at 154. Maybe for the next year or so and then I’ll eventually move up to 160.”