Jermell has not ruled out a return to the junior middleweight division or an eventual showdown with Tim Tszyu.
Neither are a priority, or even a motivational factor at the moment.
“I know Tim Tszyu was my [mandatory] challenger. But he does nothing for my career,” Charlo insisted to Showtime’s Brian Custer when asked of the decision to move up two weight divisions for his next fight.
Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19KOs) will instead challenge for Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s super middleweight crown in a bid to become the sport’s second male boxer to win undisputed championships in two weight divisions. He was on site at the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford Showtime Pay-Per-View event this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which will host his September 30 matchup versus Guadalajara’s Alvarez (59-2-2, 39KOs).
The bout comes in lieu of Charlo’s previously ordered and delayed mandatory title defense versus Australia’s Tszyu (23-0, 17KOs), who is now the interim WBO junior middleweight titlist. The two were due to meet in January, until Charlo suffered a broken hand during training camp last December which put him on the shelf for much of 2023.
The WBO twice asked for medical updates on when he was expected to return to the ring to proceed with the fight. A change of plans came when Charlo agreed to climb up the scale to pursue greatness versus Alvarez, oddly in a fight most thought would go to his twin brother Jermall (32-0, 22KOs), who continues to work through personal issues.
Charlo faces the likelihood of being stripped of at least one junior middleweight title, whether before the fight or depending on the outcome of his September 30 super middleweight championship challenge. However many belts he’s left with, the door is left open for at least one more title defense.
By then, he hopes it will be worth it to revisit plans for a fight versus Tszyu.
“He still needs to build up himself, build up his career. I’m cool with that. But I was down to fight him anyway. Then we ran into the injury, and now it’s like—we get an opportunity like this, we’re gonna go ahead and take that.
“One thing, I’m not done yet at 154. But I’m fittin’ to go catch that crown. Roy [Jones, Hall of Fame four-division titlist] was able to move up and down. It’s my turn now.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox