WBO orders Jermell Charlo to face Tim Tszyu in first undisputed defense

As expected, Jermell Charlo’s first defense as undisputed super welterweight champion will pit him against WBO mandatory challenger Tim Tszyu. The WBO has officially given both parties 20 days to come to terms and avoid a $200,000-minimum purse bid.

There shouldn’t be any issues on the broadcast side of things, as both are Showtime veterans and were actually slated to share a card in March before Brian Castano’s injury forced the network to shuffle things around, and their respective promoters (PBC and No Limit Boxing) worked together on Tszyu’s (21-0, 15 KO) recent Showtime main event against Terrell Gausha, so odds are they’ll be able to hash things out before the deadline.

And good thing, too, because this has just as much potential for absolute chaos as Charlo’s (35-1-1, 19 KO) duology with Brian Castano. Tszyu’s mauling, pressure-heavy attack should mesh beautifully with Charlo’s concussive sniping to produce either a gritty, protracted war or a horrifyingly violent finish.

Whoever wins will then have Sebastian Fundora, Bakhram Murtazaliev, and the winner of Israil Madrimov vs. Michel Soro 2 waiting in the wings. We’re about to enter a very fun era at 154.