By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Looks like WBO #1 junior middleweight Tim Tszyu could face WBO #3 ranked Tony Harrison for at least an interim version of the WBO title due to the postponement of Tszyu’s long-awaited clash with undisputed 154lb champ Jermell Charlo due to a hand injury suffered by Charlo.
The WBO has given Charlo until January 2 to submit a detailed medical explanation of his injury, findings, recovery prognosis, and his orthopedic specialist’s opinion as to when he will be physically and medically cleared to compete and return to active competition. The champ was warned that failure to comply will result in him “waiving all rights hereunder and with the Committee proceeding per WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests.”
This is an odd request by the WBO. Charlo didn’t fake an injury. Camp is expensive and all that work for nothing?
How do you know he didn’t fake it? His camp could have been going poorly. I’m not saying that he did but, I’m ok with the WBO wanting to know. Charlo should have no problems providing all of the documentation that they need, providing he did indeed break his hand, with 16 ounce gloves on.
Good excuse to call for an interim champion.
A fight with Harrison will test Tszyu also
I agree, Harrison has experience, ring intelligence, and skills to test any fighter. As long as Harrison stays focused and does not allow himself to set back during the fight, he has a good chance to upset the apple cart. Harrison tends to fold up some in fights once he gets frustrated or is out of his gameplan.
All seems reasonable…
Also, Harrison is tall and can be very good. Could possibly be a tough fight for Tszyu
Nice request to silence those that might have thought that Charlo’s injury isn’t real. Harrison is a decent opponent that could throw a wrench to Tszyu’s plans
That’s a fantastic replacement if it all works out. I think them requesting his medical records is just what they do when champions pull out of mandatories for injuries. I think they do it for everyone.
Interim titles are a worthless cash grab attempt by the sanctioning body. If a fighter can’t defend the actual title then strip him, but give that fighter the first crack at the belt when he’s healthy.
Tszyu should until he gets charlo in the ring for all of the belts. No one wants an interim trinket.
As long as fighters pay for these they will continue to exist. Actual titles mean little these days since there are at least four in every division. In better times the champion was the one recognized by Ring magazine and there was only one.
Ring is owned by Oscar de la Hoya. You think Ring isn’t corrupt?
I think he should definitely take the fight. Belt notwithstanding, he’s 28 years old and he hasn’t fought since March. Who knows when Charlo will be ready and even when he is ready, who knows when they’ll get the date. He could be sitting out until the spring or summer. If he has the opportunity to be active and against and opponent who has beaten Charlo, I think that’s too good to pass up Steve.
Harrison poses too much risk when tszyu is already in line for a title shot. If tim loses there goes his title shot and big payday.
If he wins, he still is only in line for an actual title opportunity.
Tim is 28, Jermell Charlo is 32 so what’s your point about age? He can afford to wait this out and not give away anything he’s been working so diligently on in preparation for charlo.
Play the long game, the risk to reward is just not worth as an Interim title means absolutely nothing. I can’t Name one ‘interim’ belt holder from memory. Nobody cares.
If his management team is smart they pass. Only fight Harrison for an actual title belt, not a fake trinket.
He’s 28 years old, he’s in his prime, he should be active. That’s my point. Harrison would definitely represent his biggest test to date, so let’s see what you have! If you can’t beat him after you have a full training camp and he has what would be like a month’s notice, then you shouldn’t be there with the undisputed champion. On top of that, I’d argue that the experience that he’d get in being in there with someone at the level of Harrison might make him a better fighter and put him in a better position to beat Charlo.
And by what you’re saying: If they strip Charlo and say TT – Harrison for the full WBO title, then you think it’s an acceptable risk? Why? You’d still be in the same position as having an interim title basically. Everyone knows who is the man at 154 and your next fight, instead of being title consolidation, would be title unification with the real champ. Interim champion: Unacceptable. Paper champion: That’s fine???
The problem I see is that Tszyu was prepping to face Charlo now he has to prep for a different fighter. I believe Tszyu can beat Charlo. Charlo hasn’t faced anyone good his whole career. Tim Tszyu is his toughest opponent to date, vice versa. Tszyu facing Harrison for a shitty Interim title is not worth the risk loosing out on an undisputed Championship fight. If I were him I wouldn’t do it. Instead I would just take a simple tune up fight While I wait for Charlo stop being a bitch and get in the ring.
an actual not interim title is worth more, regardless how you got it.
It is called prize fighting for a reason. Why should Charlo benefit and not lose at least one actual belt when he can’t defend any of them?
yet they are asking tszyu to fight a tough opponent for a made up belt, and if he loses he will also lose his huge opportunity to fight for the unified title?
The Risk to reward just ain’t worth it.
Go ahead and strip him. The 154 lb. champion is Jermell Charlo. Until someone beats him at the weight, he leaves the division or retires, that’s the case. So any title you come across in any other way than going through him is a second rate title. You can call it interim or regular or whatever you want, but Charlo is the champion at that weight. He gets hurt, stuff happens, so you can either fight, and get some good experience against a good opponent and former world champion, or you can not fight and ‘protect’ your title shot. Then when he is ready to fight and they’ve rescheduled, you can walk into the biggest fight of your life having been off for like a year.
And you’re right Steve, it is called “prize fighting”. It isn’t called “prize waiting” or “prize sitting around” or “prize playing the long game”. You FIGHT Harrison and I expect Tszyu to do that. I expect to him to have a tough fight and I expect him to win.
Prize fighting = fighting for biggest payday.
That payday is already secured simply by waiting for charlo to heal, or waiting for him to relinquish any of the belts due to injury.
That payday and opportunity to capture all of the belts at once is not guaranteed by fighting Harrison.
Not sure why that is so difficult to understand.
Any high level promoter or manager would make his fighter wait unless an actual title was on the line with the next highest ranked contender.
Now if Tim didn’t already have a signed contract to fight for the unified titles then yes by all means going after an interim should get you to the front of the line. But he’s already at the front of the line!!
Btw, If Tszyu never fights charlo but still goes on to win a title, the history books won’t care as he will still be considered a champion.
On the other hand, if Tim fights and loses to Harrison for a stupid interim label, and then flames out you can be certain his wallet will take the biggest hit.
Simple economics of too much risk to too little reward = a hard pass.
Oh “prize fighting” means fighting for the biggest payday? It means making THE most money possible? Okay, so clearly fighting Charlo, alone, would pay more than fighting Charlo AND Harrison. That must be where I got confused. Silly me, I thought that fighting TWICE would pay better than sitting around doing nothing for a few more months (after you’ve been off for nine) and then fighting once.
I don’t know if you’re such a big Harrison fan or not very high on Tszyu or what, but we know what Harrison is. He’s a good boxer and if you give him space and let him do what he does, you’ll have a hard time. If you press him, he falls apart. Three losses all by late stoppage. For me, that sounds like a really good opponent for Tszyu. It sounds like something to do while you’re waiting on Charlo and if you have confidence in your guy, you take that fight in a second.
You got stuck on this word “interim” Steve, you mention it continuously. Obviously you hate the idea of it and that’s fine, but the WBO doesn’t use it the same way the WBA used to. If Tszyu fights Harrison and wins it and Charlo never returns, he will be full WBO super welterweight champion – the same way, one weight class up, Alimkhanuly became full champion after Andrade decided to stay at super middleweight; and like you said, history won’t care how he got it.
Length is the toughest thing in boxing to overcome. Harrison has length tzsyu does not. I’d make it a 50/50 fight.
Which is too much risk to possibly lose a shot at the unified titles.
Fight a cab driver or even an exhibition against a rugby player or celebrity in Australia to stay busy.
Let Harrison fight someone else for an interim trinket. Even if they elevate him to ‘real’ champ then tzsyu still fights for the other 3 titles next.
This would be like Teofimo fighting Kambosos for an interim belt prior to fighting Loma for all the marbles.
Kambosos proved to be too much for teo. And that unified opportunity would have been gone forever. Now teo is a unified champ in the history books regardless what he does going forward. Which honestly i don’t think he will win a title at 140.
Absolutely …agree with you SteveG….Harrison can fight….Can be very dangerous…seasoned vet ……in this combat sport..one fight can ruin a fighter…If It is foreseeable that Charlo is the next fight after the injury heals then… absolutely there is an extreme financial risk here by fighting Harrison..Teo is a great example….
Exactly, Tim is a.fihhter and he will want to fight. This idea of sit and wait is why we have fighters only competing 1-2 times a year. A few weeks back it was Tim should be fighting castano, he’s not ready for charlo – another BS sentiment where apparently people would rather see less competitive fights, but then complain the best fights aren’t being made. And the BS idea that a loss or 2 or 3 and a fighter is finished. Look at the UFC P4P rankings and the top 10 all have losses, but still competitive, entertaining fights are made and fighters are rarely written off after losing.
Lucie… understand your position….just disagree with it..note that you stated that Harrison…outside of Charlo…is Tim’s biggest test to date….a fight for far less money. and maybe a garbage title? When there are other and future options of value with less risk…and significant financial returns/gains….Harrison is a live dog…and if prepared would offer a tougher challenge with less to gain for Tim….bad fight….
This is a good and honest move by the WBO, and is quite honestly a great alternative for Tszyu. If he beats Harrison then his chances to beat Charlo just improved in my book.
Another interim title is there no end to the circus/
Tszyu not only got a fight but a problem. No easy fight. What a replacement. If Tim wins, and I’m not sure, it’s hard to see better preparation. Charlos injury might be Tszyus gift. Better preparation is hard to see.
Harrison hasn’t been very active and never did regain the swagger he once had before Charlo blasted him out. Not sure how much more he has left. It’s also hard to believe that he has been able to stay in the top 10 in the rankings with his inactivity. Lack of conditioning is the big question here with him too. I think he may put up a decent fight in the early going, before running out of gas, and losing.
Any way we look at it this should be a solid challenge for as long as it lasts. Don’t count out Harrison , I could see him putting some serious heat on TT !
I got Harrison beating him. Don’t think Tim can handle anyone with a heartbeat.
This might be a more exciting fight than the Charlo fight. If Tszyu then Charlo finds another way yet to postpone the Tszty again, or of Tszyu loses against Harrison then will see a Harrison Vs Charlo 3 fight.
Still a good match up and it can only add to Tim’s experience (should he prevail), and I don’t think it hurts to make sure that the injury to Charlo is measured in both authenticity and recovery.
Charlos injury is what it is, fight Harrison,but instead of fighting for some bullshit half a belt,the winner becomes the new mandatory!
Tim Tszyu should refuse to fight Harrison for the Interim WBO title. If he looses to Harrison his dream of undisputed is gone. He should just do a tune up fight instead while he waits for Charlo for the big fight. Why risk it?
f that. harrison deserves it. Charlo? Shit..
If it was Canelo they would give him all the time he wants
Tszyu will fight some random that is smaller and from a weight below just to make sure he gets a win. No way he fights Harrison – to much at risk.
Agreed. A chance at all of the titles is worth waiting for.
Charlo has pulled the hand injury excuse to get out of taking a mandatory drug test .
Great tune up fight for Tzyu..
Good fight if it pops off. This is the type of fight I was saying that Tszyu needed before facing Charlo.
his pee pee hurts..Charlo? Both c fighters..nuff said