Junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu 20-0 (15) expects WBO 154-pound champion Brian Castano 17-0-2 (12) to edge out WBC, WBA and IBF counterpart Jermell Charlo 34-1-1 (18) when they meet in a rematch in Los Angeles on May 14.
Australian Tszyu, 27, is the WBO number one contender and was expected to make his US debut on the undercard of the fight when it was scheduled to take place this weekend before Castano suffered a tear to his left biceps forcing the bout to be postponed.
Tszyu will now face Terrell Gausha 22-2-1 (11) at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 26. If successful, Tszyu will be in line to face the winner of Charlo-Castano, whose fist fight last July ended in a disputed split draw.
“I think Castano wins. I think he won the first one slightly,” Tszyu told FightHype. “It depends on who’s ready. I think Charlo is in the right mindset for this fight, so who knows?”
As for who Tszyu would prefer to face, he says he doesn’t care.
“I couldn’t care less,” he said. “Charlo would be pretty cool here in America just because it would be a bigger fight, but I couldn’t care less.
“Whoever wins has all the belts and calls all the shots. There’s not much you can do about it.
“Yeah, because he calls himself a lion, but when you downgrade from a lion, you know what it is. It brings back similarities. The unknown vs the flash. Yeah, that’s why it would be cool as well.”
Tszyu’s fight against Gausha will be broadcast in the US on Showtime, the same network that carried many of his father Kostya Tszyu’s fight when the Russian-born Australian was the junior welterweight champion of the world.
“All the top dogs in the division are from PBC and we have a very good history with Showtime since my father’s day,” said Tszyu. “I’m very excited to be on this platform. It’s a big opportunity.”
Tszyu has effectively cleaned out the junior middleweight division in his homeland, with notable wins over former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn and former world title challengers Dennis Hogan and Takeshi Inoue.
“I just want to take on the best,” said Tszyu. “We’ve done great things in Australia. The stuff that we were doing were pretty crazy for my age. I need to get out of my comfort zone and come to here, and do things differently.
“[2012 Olympian Gausha’s] an incredible opponent, a tough opponent,” said Tszyu. “He’s got all the good tools. He’s quick, good IQ, he’s got good power and he’s got it all.
“I’m not here for shit fights. I’m here to take on the best. Terrell is that opponent that gets you to that next level as well. Step by step. As I said before, my motto is, ‘Whoever, whenever, wherever’.”
