By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Premier Boxing Champions has confirmed that undisputed 154-lb world champion Jermell Charlo suffered a broken left hand in training and his much-anticipated, high-stakes defense against WBO #1 contender Tim Tszyu, which was scheduled for January 28, has been postponed.
Charlo broke his left hand in two places – between the pinkie and ring finger and at the base of the thumb – after landing a punch in sparring at his gym in Houston on Tuesday. After visiting two doctors and a hand specialist in Houston, his hand has been placed in a cast. It will remain in a cast for two months and after it is removed, he will begin rehabilitation before resuming his training.
“I was sparring, and I threw this nice punch and as soon as it landed, I knew something was wrong. I felt my hand throbbing right away,” said Charlo. “I had two X-rays and an MRI to see what was wrong. It showed it was broken in two places. I hate this feeling. My hand will be in a cast for two months. I’m as disappointed as the fans, maybe more, because this was my first chance to defend the undisputed title.
“The way I am, I would have beaten Tim Tszyu with one hand, but the doctors and the boxing commission won’t allow that. It’s even more dangerous when a lion faces adversity and has to come back to defend the pride. I’ve been training since July, and I’ve been hitting harder than ever, and these are the things that happen when you push yourself to the limits. After my hand heals, I’m coming back stronger than ever to defend my legacy.”
* * *
“This is not the news that anyone wants to hear because we’ve been anticipating this fight. But these things happen,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “Jermell didn’t take the easy route to become the undisputed super welterweight champion, so he knows that nothing comes easy. Tszyu better be ready, because Jermell will be stronger and hungrier than ever when he comes back.”
* * *
“Charlo vs. Tszyu for the undisputed super welterweight title is one of the biggest and most anticipated fights on the 2023 boxing schedule, so we, like boxing fans around the world, are obviously disappointed to hear of Jermell’s injury and the resulting postponement,” said Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports & Event Programming, Showtime Networks Inc. “We wish Jermell a speedy recovery, and we look forward to adding this important fight back to the SHOWTIME schedule as soon as reasonably possible. We know both Jermell and Tim are anxious to give boxing fans the all-action fight that we have all been anticipating.”
That sucks.
Hopefully Tsyzu can have a fight in Australia before this one finally happens
Nooooooooooo! Dammit. Have been waiting forever for that fight already.
Charlo’s been training five months for a 36 minute fight? No wonder he got injured.
Hopefully this gets rebooked before 2025.
Oh no. That sucks. No one is ever truly 100% in full contact sports, but a broken hand is what you DO NOT want, especially in 2 places.
Sports medicine has advanced to the point where athletes are back in record time. Charlo is still young and should bounce right back.
Bullshit.
Charlo ducking and making up excuses not to fight.
Tsyzu in 2!
Seems suspect to me. I’m thinking Charlo either didn’t get paid, hasn’t been doing well in training, is well over the weight a month or so out from the fight, is angling for a more lucrative fight against Crawford or Spence, or some or all of the above. I don’t think the Tszyu fight happens now.
There is absolutely no evidence of that. Pure conjecture based on nothingness.
These guys fight so infrequently that something happening like this is almost a disaster. Depending on how long he’s out, this may guarantee that, for the fourth consecutive year, Charlo only fights once a year.
Charlo you scared thought Tim pulls out hehe…now we get closer & someone is scared of the formidable Australian haha! Tim would’ve beaten Charlo up badly within 10rounds.
Plain and simple. He is not ready for a fight in January. He needs more time to tudy tszyu. They want to make sure he wins this fight.You don’t hurt a few weeks before a fight when you been training for several months and you spar with huge gloves with a lot of padding. And No ! No heavy bag is that hard. So, he was advised to put it off until he feels really sure if himself.
And broke bones on either side of the hand…….was he punching a brick wall ? I guess some bogus x rays will be posted at some point.
Pure conjecture, but if you’re right, doubt it, but if you’re right, males you respect Floyd Mayweather the more. He beat down opponents often with a broken hand.
I can’t say the Lion is lyin, o.k. but it’s just another example of PBC: Postponing Boxing Constantly
The Lion and Adversity quote stuff was B.S. however. Hurting your hand isn’t “adversity”, comes with the territory and has absolutely nothing to do with the individual opponent. I can’t believe he’s gonna destroy a opponent worse because he injured his hand. Enough with the Lions crap.
I said Charlo would eventually find a way to postpone this fight and he did.
I don’t buy it for a minute. Charlo is having weight issues or is just flat out scared of the Aussie. Nobody breaks their hand in training, it literally can’t happen with 16oz gloves. And then he has the nerve to talk trash after he pussed out of the fight. I initially picked Charlo to win the fight, but if it happens now I’m going with Tim. Jermell is scared of Tzsyu.
This is a bummer, I hope it still gets put together. The winner in this situation however is Tim. It grants Tim time and experience whereas for Charlo it’s inactivity and a recovering broken hand.
The Boxing Gods have not been good to us!! Watch Benavidez-Plant fall apart??!!??…..
So let me get a clear understanding. For the next 60 days or so, Charlo is going to put on and take off a new cast everyday on his left hand, just to fake and injury, all because he was ducking or wasn’t ready to fight Tszyu?
How was it a ‘nice punch’ if you broke your pinky knuckle. That isn’t an effective way to land a punch.
Fighters fight, not sit around for months partying and on instagram; hence my belief that you should have a minimum of 40 fights to qualify for the Hall with 10 world title fights. Too much training and not enough fighting these days. World class pro’s should be ready for a fight in 3 months with a month off after a fight; that’s 3 fights a year, very doable. Could be some politricks involved, have to wait and see.
The inactivity of the modern boxer is as bad for the sport as bad judges. A top heavyweight could probably remain marketable with such sporadic fighting, but Charlo can’t.
Broke his hand in 2 places sparring with big 14 oz gloves and hands wrapped? What was he punching? This sounds suspect gotta be more to the story.
This is unfortunate. Hopefully he is able to return to full strength. Tszyu should take another fight.
Tim Tszyu vs canelo alvarez make it happen
The only thing that Charlo broke was the record for making an excuse not to fight…someone that he did not want to fight any way.
Charlo and his brother, have been ‘froze out’, by the Canelos and Golovkins of the pugilistic world, just like they and PBC have ‘froze out’ other boxers that do not meet their ‘BIG FIGHT’, or ‘CASH-OUT’ CRITERIA.
Spence and the Charlo may not be the ‘biggest frauds’ in boxing, but they are far ahead of the rest of the pack.
IF they model their games after Crawford and Bivol, just to name two, boxing would be in a much better place…..for sure.
I remember David Haye getting injured twice before he was supposed to fight Tyson Fury. Was very suspicious of that. Many thought back then (though not myself) that Haye would beat Fury. I think we all know differently now. Also remember reading something about Bobby Cyz, former Light heavy and cruiser weight champ, supposed to defend against Orlin Norris, and having a strange accident with a car I believe. A champion should at least be mandated to defend that title against the highest rated fighter at least every 6 months, of lose that title. I am sure that these injuries than would not happen. It is unfair to boxers who are slated to get title shots to not be able to fight for that title because of what happens.
charlo broken hand my pick was tzyzu anyway hope tzyzu gets a good replacement he needs to stay active
Was cooking real nice. Bummer.
Tony Harrison has made himself available to fill the void. A good choice, bearing in mind that he is the only one who has beaten Charlo. It would be a great test for Tim, to see where he’s at in ring talent , boxing IQ,and to show he’s the real deal .
He needed a little more time..
Stop the hate