Shortly after it became known that the undisputed champion of the first middleweight (up to 69.9 kg) American Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) refuses to hold a mandatory defense scheduled for January 28 against WBO contender from Australia Tim Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs), citing a broken arm, the World Boxing Organization turned to the champion demanding official confirmation of the injury.
Jermell now needs to provide the organization with a “detailed medical diagnosis of the nature of his injury, test results, recovery prognosis, and a podiatrist’s verdict as to when the boxer will be able to return to active competition” by the end of this week.
If Charlo does not comply with the order, it is likely that the WBO title will be taken away from him, and Tszyu will challenge the already vacant title with another boxer. For example, with this.
Upon learning of the organization’s demand, Jermell assured that he was “clean” and promised, no matter what, to hold two fights in 2023. But at the moment, he still hasn’t figured it out with the WBO.