Tim Tszyu On Charlo-Castano Postponement “I’m In Limbo”
Late Wednesday night came the reports that the March Undisputed Jr. Middleweight rematch between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano is off due to injury for Castano. Now, the top 154 lb. contender from the WBO, who was supposed to be the co-feature on the PPV, isn’t quite sure what’s next for him.
Unbeaten Australian Tim Tszyu spoke to Daily Telegraph of Australia Thursday afternoon, upon hearing the news from the USA about the Charlo-Castano rematch,
“In limbo” – @Tim_Tszyu reacts to news that threatens to crush his American dream @telegraph_sport #boxing #CharloCastano2 https://t.co/VE2Lx9sFrQ
— Jamie Pandaram (@JamiePandaram) February 17, 2022
“From what my team has told me there’s not a lot of information right now so I’m in limbo,” Tszyu told News Corp from his training base on the Gold Coast.
“Until we get further advice and understanding of what’s going on, I’m stuck and can’t do much.”
Tszyu’s promoter, No Limit Boxing, spent weeks negotiation with US-based giants Premier Boxing Champions to get undefeated Tszyu (20-0, 15KO) on the Castano-Charlo 2 card.
No Limit chief executive George Rose was due to hold a press conference on Friday formally announcing Tszyu’s American debut.
“We had a big announcement planned for Tim’s first fight in the United States, and that has been thrown into chaos with the unification fight in doubt,” Rose said.
“We know nothing more, some reports are saying the fight is delayed, others are saying it’s off. We can’t make any plans until we talk to the relevant parties and get solid information.”
As we wrote on Wednesday night, the WBO champ Castano has injured his biceps and all that’s known for sure is that the March 19th scheduled PPV at L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena (former Staples Center) with Charlo is off.
The highly anticipated rematch has been some seven months in the making. This after Castano pushed Jermell Charlo to a 12 round draw in San Antonio, TX, last July in a fight that many believed he actually won.
The fight was close, but marred by one un-defendable scorecard that had Charlo winning a phantom 9 of the 12 rounds. This, when Castano, now 17-0-2, clearly pressed the action early, scored the more important punches and Charlo, now 34-1-1, chose to hang on the ropes getting outfought through the first nine rounds.
In the tenth the tide turned and Charlo had his best round of the whole fight. He repeatedly rocked Castano with straight right hands and lefts to the body. However, he couldn’t put Castano on the canvas. Then, the fight went to the final bell and the unfulfilling split-draw was announced.
It’s unclear what Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime, who won the bid to have the PPV, will do with the date and with Charlo. However, one clear option is to have Charlo battle popular, unbeaten Australian Tszyu.
Tszyu, is the 27 year old son of Hall of Famer Kosta Tszyu, has been on the “fast-track” to a world title shot by wiping out competition in Australia over the last two years. The most recent of those came in November, when he defeated Japan’s Takeshi Inoue in a convincing 12 round performance held in Tszyu’s hometown of Sydney.
Things were thrown into further uncertainty and even, comedy, when WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel tweeted that if Castano isn’t fighting Charlo, he’s fighting their #1 contender Tszyu next,
Castan'o vs Charlo..Look like no unification will take place..Who you can blame ? Probably Castan'o.. @TGBpromotions @TwinCharlo @JakeNDaBox @pugboxing @DanRafael1 @LoMejorDelBoxeo @NotiFight @ShowtimeBoxing
— Paco Valcárcel, Esq. (@PacoValcarcel) February 17, 2022
As referenced above in the Telegraph item, Tszyu was already scheduled to make his U.S. debut to fight former U.S. Olympian and Jr. Middleweight veteran, Terrell Gausha on the undercard of Charlo-Castano in March. The fight had not been formally announced, but No Limit Promotions had planned to make it official on Friday.
Now, we wait to see if Charlo and Premier Boxing Champions would switch Tszyu to the main event in what would be a very intriguing replacement bout?
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
