Interim WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) was interviewed by Fight Hub TV’s own Marcos Villegas in a video posted on the channel’s YouTube page last night. Since the announcement of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo, Tszyu has been quiet and hasn’t openly revealed some of the frustrations felt about the news until now.
Unfortunately, Tszyu learned the same way everyone else did, through social media. “I was in a bit of shock. I didn’t understand what was going on at the time. Waking up to it, I was like, ‘Man, this can’t be real for sure.’ Then I saw it on the Canelo official page.” Then Tszyu called his manager to confirm the news was real and told him, “This is a piss take, right? This is a joke, right?” Afterward, his manager confirmed the news, and he knew then that things had changed. Tszyu would later mention that the date of the fight and venue was confirmed for October 14th in Las Vegas, NV, which added to the shock of the news that he wasn’t fighting Charlo next.
Moving past the Charlo news and onto the present, what will Tszyu do now? “I’m not staying in this division for as long as possible. If I can make the big fights happen now and possibly unify, then that’s what I’m doing. Then I’m going to chase Mell anyway, wherever he goes. If he goes to 160 or stays at 168, I’m coming up to that division. I want Mell!” It sounds like Tszyu will channel his inner Shannon Briggs and pop up wherever Jermell Charlo settles in and call him out for a fight.
Regarding the future and some of the big fights Tszyu is looking for, he mentioned sticking around junior middleweight to see if Errol Spence Jr. moves up. If that timetable is too far down the road, Tszyu has other thoughts of fights that can occur. “Who knows, this boxing takes turns, and who knows what’s going to happen. One day, who knows, maybe I get the call to fight Canelo or GGG. Those are the names I want.”
