Tim Tszyu Now WBO 154-lb Champ, Faces Brian Mendoza On October 15th

By Adam Baskin: Tim Tszyu has now been formally elevated to full WBO junior middleweight champion and will likely be making his first protection of his title towards the large puncher Brian Mendoza this month on October 14th on Showtime on the Gold Coast Conference Centre, Broadbeach in Sydney, Australia.

That is Tszyu’s second to shine. If he beats Mendoza, he’s going  to obtain a number of reward and will result in fights towards Terence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr.

Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) will likely be an actual check for the 28-year-old Tszyu, contemplating he’s coming off a seventh spherical knockout victory over Sebastian Fundora final April and is now within the prime of his profession at 29.

The Las Vegas resident Mendoza has gained his final three fights since dropping to Jesus Ramos by a ten spherical unanimous choice in 2021. In 2019, Mendoza was overwhelmed by the unheralded Larry Gomez by an eight spherical break up choice.

Mendoza has seemed like a distinct fighter in his final three fights, beating Fundora, Jeison Rosario, and Benjamin Whitaker. It’s secure to say that if Mendoza fought Ramos & Gomez, it will be a distinct story.

The earlier champion, Jermell Charlo, selected to face Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed tremendous middleweight championship final Saturday evening in Las Vegas reasonably than make an ordered necessary protection towards Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs).

“Tim Tszyu is the [new World Boxing Organization 154-lb] champion,” WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel stated to Mike Coppinger as we speak. “[The fight between] Tim Tszyu and [Brian] Mendoza is for the title..

Final Saturday, Jermell made it recognized to the followers that he was going to concentrate on getting probably the most “cash” he may with the rest of his profession and that didn’t really feel motivated to attempt to recapture his WBO title from the Tszyu vs. Mendoza.

Nonetheless, it’s doable that Jermell may change his thoughts if he fails to get the big-money fights that he hoped to get as a result of Terence Crawford has already stated he’s not occupied with preventing him as a result of passive method he fought towards Canelo.

It’s not as if Jermell didn’t know that he had his WBO necessary Tszyu ready for a title shot as a result of the battle had been ordered final yr. Jermell & Tszyu have been presupposed to battle earlier this yr on January twenty eighth, however the 33-year-old Charlo suffered a hand harm.

Lastly, the WBO gave Jermell a deadline of September thirtieth  to defend towards Tszyu, however he selected to maneuver as much as 168 to problem Canelo for his 4 belts and decide up a large payday.

After dropping the battle to Canelo by a twelve spherical choice, Jermell complained on the post-fight press convention about dropping his WBO title, saying that he wished to talk to somebody with the group about it.