Who Will Be First to Challenge WBO Champion Tim Tszyu?
When undisputed super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo opted to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, this set off a domino effect. As a result, when Charlo meets Alvarez, Charlo will be stripped of his WBO title which will be awarded to Interim WBO champion Tim “The Soul Taker” Tszyu (23-0, 17 KO’s). Once Tszyu is in possession of the belt ,the next natural question is: who will be his next opponent?
Within in the WBO rankings, the three names that pop up first are: #1 Josh Kelly, #3 Charles Conwell and #4 Xander Zayas. Kelly technically makes sense because he is at the top of the heap, and is coming off a July 15 win over Gabriel Corzo. On the flip side, Kelly has only fought outside of his native UK backyard twice. On both occasions he fought in the states against extremely forgettable competition. Even worse, Kelly fought to a draw with Ray Robinson in his second duel in America.
There is also Xander Zayas (16-0, 10 KO’s) who is the youngest fighter that promotional powerhouse Top Rank has ever signed. While his skill is obvious, Zayas is still a work in progress and it’d very likely be a huge mistake to toss him in the deep end of the talent pool this early in his career. Conversely, Cleveland native Charles “Bad News” Conwell (18-0, 13 KO’s) is more seasoned and already on the edge of title shot now. If chosen as the next in-ring foe, whether win, lose or draw, Conwell should prove to be a very sturdy and determined challenger.
THE RINGER
Outside of these fighters who already reside within the super welterweight division, there is also the wild card of undisputed welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s). In his last duel, versus Errol Spence Jr, Crawford dominated and stopped Spence in such a dominant fashion that virtually no one could have imagined. Technically speaking, Spence is seeking to utilize the rematch clause to face Bud again but at 154-pounds.
Yet it would not be out of the question to see this fight getting pushed back a bit if Spence took a tune up bout. If freed of his obligation to dance with Spence, it’s a very real possibility that Bud moves up in weight and utilizes his option as a WBO champion to challenge Tszyu right away. This is exactly what Crawford did as the undisputed super lightweight champion jumping straight into a fight with WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn.
Clearly, there are numerous high level opponents for Tszyu to line up with next. For the time being however, we will just have to play the waiting game to see who is going to get the call to duty. No matter who it turns out to be, 3Kings Boxing will be here to report all the latest developments!
