Following undisputed Super Welterweight champion Jermell Charlo suffering an injury last month, the WBO has been on the move and arranged another title fight for his slated opponent, Tim Tszyu. Tszyu will be facing former WBC Junior Middleweight champion Tony Harrison for the WBO world interim title. The fight is set for March 12 – on a Sunday – and will be held in Tszyu’s native country of Australia.
Tim Tszyu (21-0, 15 KO’s) was previously expected to face Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO’s) in February before an injury canceled the opportunity for their bout to take place. This comes only weeks after Tony Harrison expressed interest in substituting for Charlo, in a bid to fight for a mandatory spot or an interim title that would see him land another shot at Charlo. Tony Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KO’s) and Jermell Charlo previously fought twice with their first match culminating in Harrison defeating Charlo by unanimous decision and winning the WBC world title. Charlo revenged the first loss of his career with a knockout victory over Harrison in 2019 that also saw him becoming a two-time world champion, and Charlo subsequently went on to become an undisputed champion.
Though Harrison may obviously form a stumbling block in Tszyu’s ambitions to become a world champion will be temporarily on hold as he faces a former world champion in Tony Harrison. Tony Harrison is well-known for his slick ‘Detroit Style’, a boxing style said to have originated in Detroit which focuses on maintaining a solid defensive stance which can also operate with the ‘Philly Shell’, a guarding stance with protects all of the body’s defensive areas. Harrison scored an upset win over Charlo in their first match using this style, but failed to contend with Charlo’s power and determination in the rematch before being knocked out.
Tim Tszyu, son of former Junior Welterweight/Super Lightweight undisputed champion Kostya Tszyu, has proven his talent the past couple of years with notable victories over Jeff Horn (20-3-1, 13 KO’s), Dennis Hogan (31-4-1, 7 KO’s) and Terrell Gausha (22-3-1, 11 KO’s), and a fight against another top-rated fighter in Tony Harrison provides him with the experience needed to potentially defeat Jermell Charlo. Though Harrison and Charlo’s styles couldn’t be more different from one another, Harrison’s unorthodox style will give Tszyu a thorough challenge that will be difficult to surmount.
The winner of this bout will receive the WBO interim world title for the Junior Middleweight/Super Welterweight division, and will very likely be Jermell Charlo’s next opponent when he recovers from his injury. A potential hic-up in this entire thing is the fact that Sebastian Fundora is the interim WBC champion and might face Charlo before the winner of this match because of his mandatory position. Either way, Charlo will be facing at least one out of two credible contenders who pose a threat to his reign as the undisputed king of the 154 lbs division.
