Aussie WBO super welterweight champ Tim Tszyu has labelled Jermell Charlo a “coward” and a “fraud” as he gears up for his Las Vegas debut against American Keith Thurman in March.
It was announced Charlo would be stripped of his WBO title in August 2023, having scheduled a fight with Canelo Alvarez and jumping up two weight classes to super middleweight.
Charlo was scheduled to fight Tszyu in January but pulled out with a broken hand, forcing the Aussie superstar to continue with fights against Tony Harrison, Carlos Ocampo and Brian Mendoza.
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Speaking at Sydney Airport as he prepared to board a plan to the United States, Tszyu told he’s resigned to the fact he won’t get the chance to face the former unified champion who received a further blow only days ago.
Having last defended his WBC belt in September 2020, Charlo was handed the ‘Champion in recess’ tag, meaning Sebastian Fundora and Serhii Bohachuk will fight for the belt on the Tszyu vs Thurman card.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m never going to fight him, because he’s a bit of a coward and finally all the sanctioning bodies are realising that he’s a fraud,” Tszyu said.
“He went so hard to win the belts and you have to go even harder to keep them, what did he do? He just stopped fighting, that’s unfair for the rest of the division.
“It’s held us all up for two or three years, so let him go into hiding, into his little holiday or whatever he does.
“Not my concern, he’s not on the radar anymore for anyone at the moment, he’s got nothing to bring… that (stripping of his belt) should have happened months ago when me and Mendoza fought.
“Whatever, belts are belts but I’m going for history making stuff, pinch yourself moments.”
Thurman (30-1) has only one blemish on his impressive record, having lost to Manny Pacquiao and having previously held the WBA and WBC welterweight titles.
He is also still sitting at No.2 in the WBA welterweight title behind unified champion Terrence Crawford, however he has not fought for almost two years.
Thurman’s last bout came against Mario Barrios in February 2022, but Tsyzu has no doubts this clash will be the toughest of his already storied career.
“This is a pinch yourself moment, when you think of the word YOLO, this is it… when you talk about moments and experiences,” Tszyu said.
“T-Mobile Arena, headlining Amazon Prime, in the (United) States, it’s a big deal. I’ve loved fighting in Australia, it’s been an absolute honour.
Tszyu vs. Thurman made OFFICIAL! | 00:50
“But now I’m glad I’m here at the airport to do history-making things… he’s (Thurman) got the calibre and his names have definitely been much higher than my ones, his resume is much better.
“But he’s never faced a Tim Tszyu in his life, that’s the most challenging part for him. When I peak, I peak and he will feel it. He’s never been in the ring with anyone like me.”
Interestingly, Tszyu has studied Thurman’s fighting style closely, assisting in Pacquiao’s training camp in 2019 which led to yet another win for the Filipino legend.
“2019 I got the call for sparring Pacquiao, where I was told to mimic him so I’ve had a good watch of him and had to sort of impersonate him in sparring,” Tszyu said.
“I know what he brings, I know what he’s like and it’s crazy that four years later we are doing a show together.”
Meanwhile, Michael ‘Pretty Boy’ Zerafa will also feature on the undercard in Las Vegas, taking on WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara for the long-awaited mandatory bout.
Zerafa has been forced to wait almost a year to get his chance at a title shot and Australia’s boxing villain has never shied away from taking shots at Tszyu.
When asked if the rumours were true and he was sitting next to Zerafa on his flight to the USA on Monday, Tszyu took his own jab.
“Nah sorry man, he’s a couple of rows behind,” Tszyu said.
He was asked what his response would be if Zerafa called him out for a fight, with a potential title bout on the cards in the middleweight division should both win in March.
“Zerafa who?” Tszyu said.