Undisputed Jr Middleweight champion and Houston Native Jermell Charlo, 35-1-1 (19), will stay at 154 pounds and defend all the belts against WBO mandatory challenger Tim Tszyu, 21-0 (15), of New South Wales, Australia. The bout is scheduled for January 28th, 2023. More than six months out. The location of the bout is not yet determined. Tszyu underwent hand surgery back in May, several weeks after his points victory over former US olympian Terrell Gausha. The injury is perhaps the reason for the delay in the fight, but that is far more than the timetable for typical recovery suggests. Tszyu is the son of legendary former Jr welterweight champ and Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.
It has been reported that the Houstonian wanted the bout in October. This means Charlo would have fought multiple times in the same calendar year for the first time since 2019. He fought just once in 2020-2022. Having last fought in May, when he stopped then WBO champ Brian Brian Castano of Argentina. It was their second bout in 10 months. Their first bout was in the summer of 2021 and ended in a disputed draw. A fight most thought the Argentinian deserved the nod in. Charlo set the record straight by knocking out the WBO champ in the 10th round of the rematch to become the first man to unify all four belts in the 154-pound division in the four-belt era. It is unclear if the younger Charlo twin will start at 154 pounds beyond this next fight. If he wants to, he will have to start fighting more often. His other mandatories are thought to be called very shortly meaning he will be given timetables to fight the likes of Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev. If Charlo does not meet those mandatories, he risks being stripped of those titles. Murtazaliev is coming up on three years as IBF mandatory.