Tim Tszyu willing to fight Jermell Charlo with Brian Castano injured

Tim Tszyu says that with Brian Castano injured and out of a planned March 19 rematch with Jermell Charlo for the undisputed 154 lb championship, he’s willing to step in and face Charlo instead.

Tszyu had been expected to face Terrell Gausha on that same show, and his team say they’re not sure what the deal is with the entire card.

Right now, the whole thing really is in limbo, it seems. The injury isn’t expected to really be long-term, but Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KO) may simply not want to wait around, and Showtime have only so many dates for boxing. They’d set aside March 19, and the schedule is going to get really busy in April and May, and this is actually a high-level fight Showtime and PBC would like people to, you know, watch, not have it get buried going head-to-head with something else, or even lose some viewers going head-to-head with something else.

Castano (17-0-2, 12 KO) could, then, find himself in a tough luck spot. This is not a mandatory or anything, Charlo holds the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles, and Castano has the WBO belt. They fought to a draw last July.

Tszyu (20-0, 15 KO) would make for a very interesting alternative opponent. He’s been training for the same date so he should be in shape, and while four weeks would be quite a short time frame to accept a Charlo fight, the 27-year-old Aussie seems determined to get his big fight this year. He sees an opening, and is at least putting it out there that he’d be willing.

“We have said all along we won’t sit and wait, we will stay busy, the titles will come in due course,” his team said in a statement. “So we will work our way through this and keep you all posted. We have put it out there that if Castano is out, we will happily step in and take Charlo. Stranger things have happened. Tim and our team are ready to go regardless of who stands in front of him in the ring in March. We shall see.”