By Craig Daly: Tim Tszyu reacted angrily today about Jermell Charlo complaining about the WBO planning to strip him of his 154-lb title the moment he enters the ring to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship on September 30th in Las Vegas.

Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is moving up two divisions for a big payday against the superstar Canelo, and he wanted the World Boxing Organization to freeze his WBO 154-lb title while he was busy.

For Jermell to be annoyed by the WBO’s move is surprising, as he’d been sitting on that title for an entire year since capturing the belt 15 months ago, stopping champion Brian Castano in the tenth round on May 14th, 2022.

Jermell was supposed to defend the WBO title against mandatory Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs), but he was given time to heal after suffering a left hand injury. But now that Jermell’s hand has finally healed, he’s chosen instead to go up to 168 to pick up some coin, facing Canelo.

The WBO has been lenient with Jermell, allowing him to lick his wounds for a year without defending the strap against Tszyu. That time will expire on September 30th, and Jermell no longer be the undisputed champion at 154.

If he wants an opportunity to win back the WBO belt, he must return to 154 to face Tszyu for the strap. However, it’s unlikely that Jermell will choose to face Tszyu when he returns to junior middleweight because he’s likely to face Terence Crawford.

That’ll be another big payday for Jermell, and he won’t want to risk losing out on that money by facing a dangerous puncher like Tszyu.

Jermell Charlo can’t hold up the division

“Bull s**t? A year and a half, I was supposed to fight him, and then he had the deadline. Rules are rules,” said Tim Tszyu to Jai McAllister, reacting to being told that Jermell Charlo complaining about the WBO planning to strip him of his 154-lb title once he enters the ring to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship on September 30th.

Jermell was likely hoping to receive the red carpet treatment by the WBO in the same way his twin, Jermall, has received from the WBC, who have allowed him to sit on his 160-lb title for two solid years without defending it.

Many boxing fans believe Jermall should have been stripped at the one-year mark when he failed to defend his WBC title against his mandatory, but the fact that he’s been allowed to keep his belt without making one defense in 25 months makes the sanctioning body look like a joke organization.

“There has to be justice. You can’t just hold up the division, you know?” Tszyu continued about Jermell wanting to freeze all four of his 154-lb titles while he goes up to 168 to get a big payday against Canelo Alvarez. “It’s wrong.

“If he [Jermell] wants that belt [WBO 154-lb title] back, then bring the other three along with it because I want all four. 100%,” said Tszyu when asked if he still intends on fighting Jermell when/if he returns to the 154-lb division.

Tszyu not a priority for Charlo

It’s almost a certainty that Tszyu won’t get the opportunity to fight Jermell until after he faces Crawford when he returns to the 154-lb division, and by that point, the interest in that contest will have evaporated.

Assuming Jermell loses to Crawford & Canelo, it won’t be worth anything for Tszyu to fight him. The fight that boxing fans would want to see at that point would be Crawford vs. Tszyu, as Jermell’s career would essentially be over.

“He’s already talking about coming back down, which means he already knows he’s going to lose to Canelo,” said Tszyu about Jermell.

“Now forever in the history books, Tim Tszyu will be written forever as time goes past,” said Tzyu about his being elevated to full WBO junior middleweight champion on September 30th. “So, I guess it is a great achievement, but I’m excited for what’s ahead and what’s ahead. It’s exciting.”

Being elevated to WBO 154-lb champion isn’t the ideal way for Tszyu to pick up that belt, and he’s NOT going to be viewed as a real champion until he beats Crawford or possibly Jermell if he doesn’t get beaten in back-to-back fights by Canelo & Bud. Fans will call Tszyu an ’email champion’ until he beats Crawford or Jermell.

“The [Brian] Mendoza fight does interest me a lot because we’re the two men in the super welterweight division besides the other bloke [Jermell Charlo], who doesn’t fight and who goes up the other two weight divisions.  We’re the other two at the top,” said Tszyu about his interest in fighting WBC interim 154-lb champion Brian Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs).”

Mendoza is coming off a seventh round knockout win over previously unbeaten Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora last April, and before that, he stopped former unified 154-lb champion Jeison Rosario in the fifth round last year.

If Tszyu can defeat Mendoza, that would be a huge win and would add the WBC interim title to his collection.

“He [Mendoza] needs to worry about what I bring. It’s a fight for each other’s will and who’s going to grab that will first,” said Tszyu.