Tim Tszyu Open To Jermell, Crawford & Canelo Fights After Mendoza On Saturday Night

By Jim Calfa: Tim Tszyu is interested in facing Canelo Alvarez, Jermell Charlo, and Terence Crawford if he successfully defends his WBO junior middleweight title against Brian Mendoza this Saturday night in Sydney, Australia.

Tim says he sees himself staying at 154 for another year before he moves up to 160. So if Crawford wants to fight him, he’s going to need to do it soon before he moves up in weight to the middleweight division.

Tszyu can’t afford to look past the dangerous puncher Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) for their headliner on Showtime Boxing International at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Mendoza is a huge puncher and is on a roll right now, having won his last three fights by knockout, and is looking like a real threat to Tszyu and to Jermell if he comes back down to 154.

It would make the most sense for undisputed junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) to fight Jermell, who holds the IBF, WBA, and WBC titles in the same division.

Jermell is expected to return to the 154-pound weight class after his loss to Canelo Alvarez in September 2021. Tszyu currently holds Jermell’s WBO title, which he needs to regain his undisputed status.

The bigger money fights for Tszyu would be at 168, where he would have the opportunity to face Canelo and David Benavidez. If Tszyu is going to move up, he’ll need to do it soon because Canelo will likely retire in the next three years.

Tszyu focused on Mendoza

“No, I said before. I’m only content once I beat the man of the division, and everything else will play its part. So, I don’t feel like I need to beat Charlo. For me, it’s not about getting one belt. I want all four,” said Tim Tszyu to Fighthype when asked if he feels like a world champion after he was elevated to WBO junior middleweight champ outside of the ring after the previous champion Jermell Charlo was stripped when he chose to move up to 168 to pick up a bag against Canelo Alvarez last September.

“The only thing that it does do is that it brings the fight closer because if he wants this belt, then we fight for all the marbles. Yeah, I think I think it makes sense.

“It depends on what mood he’s in because he made plenty of money. He might want to go on a vacation for a year so, who knows?” said Tszyu when asked if he would still be interested in fighting Jermell Charlo next if he’s victorious against Brian Mendoza on Saturday night.

The motivation that Jermell once had might disappear now after getting a huge payday against Canelo. It was hard enough to get Jermell back in the ring after his second fight with Brian Castano, which was a well-paying fight for him last year.

If the reports are true that Jermell was paid $20 million for the Canelo fight, it might take an extraction team to pull Charlo out of his mansion in Texas for a fight against Tszyu because he might not want to take himself away from the comforts of home to return to the grueling hard work of everyday life in the gym.

When a person is sitting on the kind of fortune that Jermell now has, it’s difficult to get them to get off the sofa or out of the pool. You can’t be a lazy person by nature to want to go back to work after you’ve become one of the nouveau riche.

“Well, at the moment, I can’t talk about welterweights because I’m a super welterweight,” said Tszyu. “So that’s not right. If the boys do move up, then I’m willing to take any big challenge there is at 154.”

Tim moving to 160 soon

“I’m probably not going to be too long at 154, maybe for the next year or so, and then I’ll eventually move up to 160. Yeah, for sure. I respect Crawford,” said Tszyu.

It doesn’t sound like Tszyu is eager to fight the counter-punching Crawford. If you’re Crawford, you need to target Tszyu right away because if he waits, he’ll slip through his fingers and go up to 160.

“I think he’s the top pound-for-pound fighter right now, him and Canelo,” said Tszyu when asked if he’d like to fight Terence Crawford if he’s still at 154 in the next year or so. So, yeah, that legacy-defining, and it’s all at stake for me.

“You’re going to have to wait and see,” said Tszyu on how he would go about beating Crawford. “I remember watching GGG back in the day and his destructive years, and it was more like, how is anyone going to be able to match that type of stuff?

“That’s what I’ve trying to do is to have that destructive style. Even a counterpuncher is going to be like, ‘How am I going to be able to deal with someone like that?” said Tszyu.

Mendoza’s hook = dangerous for Tszyu

“I hope not. I’m very cautious with what I do now,” said Tszyu when asked if Mendoza will be able to land his big hooks on him. I do the basic things correctly, and I’ve been working a lot in this camp where I just keep it nice and simple and, yeah, just working on the fundamentals. The fundamentals is to not get hit.”

Going to war with Mendoza could be bad news for Tszyu because this guy has the kind of power to where he’ll knock him out if he lands one of his bombs flush.

“It’s mixed emotions. It could be a war, but I’ve never been brought up to just go into wars.  Just be smart, box strategically, put some heavy pressure, and make it a tough night in the office, not for myself but for them,” said Tszyu.

“I’d welcome that Canelo fight with both hands. That’s another legacy-defining type of fight. I would love to. It would definitely be entertaining, that one, because it’d be a great match-up with styles.

“David Benavidez and Canelo, that’d be an interesting fight as well. I can’t really say too much about it, but I think David Benavidez is a beast. At the same time, Canelo’s the number one pound-for-pound fighter. He’s achieved so much. He calls the shots; he’s the shot-caller,” said Tszyu,