Tim Tszyu’s dream comes true as Jermell Charlo gives him a title shot with the undisputed super-welterweight crown on the line
- Aussie gets chance to snatch WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA belts from Charlo
- Bout likely to be held in America before the end of the year
- Tszyu can follow in father Kostya’s footsteps by unifying the division with a win
Tim Tszyu’s boxing world title shot has been locked in after the Australian agreed to terms for his fight with undisputed super-welterweight champion Jermell Charlo.
Tszyu has been the WBO’s No.1 mandatory challenger for more than a year, prompting the sanctioning body to intervene following Charlo’s victory over Brian Castano last month.
Also the holder of the WBC, IBF and WBA belts, Charlo’s win in California elevated the 32-year-old to boxing immortality as only the seventh man in the 18-year, four-belt era to claim all major straps in one division.
Now Tszyu can snatch all four at once after WBA president Paco Valcarcel confirmed the fight, which will likely happen in the United States towards the end of this year.
Tszyu (pictured beating Terell Gausha in March) can win all four super-welterweight belts if he defeats Charlo later this year
The undisputed champ scored a 10th-round knockout of Brian Castano to become only the seventh undisputed champ in the last 18 years
A time and venue must be confirmed by June 20 in what looms as a huge few months for the sport.
A high-profile match-up between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is slated for September, while Terence Crawford is finally set to fight Errol Spence Jr for the undisputed welterweight championship later this year.
‘They told us that they have an agreement and that they are looking for a date because big fights are coming and this is one of them,’ Valcarcel told ESPN Knockout.
Charlo (35-1-1, 19KO) is ranked among the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Beating Charlo will be a huge mountain to climb for Tszyu, with the American rated one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet
As well as his No.2 WBO ranking, Tszyu (21-0, 15KO) is also rated No.2 in the WBC and No.3 in the IBF.
Tszyu has the chance to follow in the footsteps of his father Kostya, who unified the light-welterweight division in 2001 with a second-round knockout of American Zab Judah in Las Vegas.
His promoters from No Limit Boxing are promising to ‘do everything’ to bring his fight to Australia, but the blockbuster is almost certain to take place in the US – and possibly even at the MGM Grand where Kostya Tszyu KO’d the previously unbeaten Judah 21 years ago.
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