Tim Tszyu To Become WBO Champion After Canelo vs Charlo
Undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo’s (35-1-1, 19 KOs) days as the WBO 154-pound belt holder will soon come to an end. That’s because the WBO is on the verge of stripping Charlo of the title, and Tim “The Soul Taker” Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) will be elevated to full-time world champion.
The sanctioning body made the announcement via its website. They’ve ruled that Charlo will lose the belt when he enters the ring for his September 30 battle against the reigning undisputed super middleweight champion, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Even though Charlo is losing the WBO strap, the sanctioning body is allowing him to keep the belt for the fight with Canelo for marketing purposes, so Alvarez – Charlo can still be promoted as undisputed champion versus undisputed champion.
ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH
Charlo stopped then-WBO champion Brian Castano to become the undisputed champion in May 2022. The expectation was that Iron Man’s next fight would be against Tszyu. Charlo and Tzsyu were to fight in January 2023 in Las Vegas.
However, the undisputed champion suffered a broken left hand, and the bout was postponed. Charlo said he was looking to fight Tszyu in August. But that timetable was pushed back. On June 30, word came down the pike that Charlo would go up to 168 and face Alvarez.
Tszyu won the vacant Interim title in March 2023 after stopping former WBC junior middleweight champion Tony Harrison. The most recent outing for The Soul Taker was a first-round destruction over Carlos Ocampo on June 18.
