Tim Tszyu was supposed to have fought Jermell Charlo before the 154-pound king made the decision to move up two divisions to challenge Canelo Alvarez last Saturday. And Tszyu still wants that fight, which he believes would leave no doubt about who is the best junior middleweight.
The newly upgraded WBO champ doesn’t think much of Charlo at the moment, though.
Tszyu, who faces Brian Mendoza on Oct. 14 in Australia (Showtime) watched the Alvarez-Charlo fight with the rest of us. And he wasn’t impressed with the effort of Charlo, who wasn’t competitive and lost a one-sided decision.
“I think he was just there to survive, honestly,” Tszyu told Boxing Junkie. “He looked like a scared boy, in my opinion. Canelo pressed it, did what he had to do. He sort of annihilated him every round. What surprised me is that [Charlo] really didn’t put up much of a game.
“When I was watching Spence-Crawford, Spence went out on his shield. Even though things weren’t working, he was trying to win, trying to figure it out. He went out on his shield the way a fighter should. Charlo was there just to survive, to say he accomplished 12 rounds with Canelo. That’s what he wanted.”
Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) was upgraded by the WBO from “interim” to full champion — his first major title — when the Alvarez-Charlo opening bell sounded.
When he was asked what that meant to him, he paused and then gave a straight forward answer: He won’t feel as if he’s a true champion until he beats Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs). And he won’t be completely satisfied until he takes down Charlo, who still holds three of the four major 154-pound titles.
Charlo has been dismissive of a potential fight with Tszyu, although he didn’t rule it out when he was asked about the possibility after his loss. However, he appears to be focused on luring 147-pound champion Terence Crawford into the ring, which Tszyu dismissed as Charlo “chasing money.”
Tszyu remains hopeful that he’ll meet Charlo, though.
“I don’t think Charlo has as many options as he thinks,” Tszyu said. “There aren’t too many people out there. Once we finish this fight, I think it does make sense.”
In a perfect world Tszyu would’ve beaten Charlo to win his first world title, not claiming it outside the ring. And he’s as confident as ever that he’d win that fight.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “That’s the guy I’ve been chasing for a year and half now. Even if no world titles are involved, that’s the name I wanted. … I saw it from a long time ago that he’s vulnerable. I never saw that competitive edge in him. That showed [on Saturday].”
