Jermell Charlo Hints At Opponent For January 2023 Fight

Jermell Charlo reportedly has his next defense set, and he gave a huge hint on who it’ll be against.

Charlo announced on Instagram that he’s returning to the boxing ring soon. He originally posted January 28, but edited that out. The undisputed junior middleweight champion still kept the Australian flag in the caption, which could mean – WBO mandatory challenger Tim Tszyu.

Tszyu, who lives in Australia, was previously the mandatory for Brian Castano, who was the then-WBO junior middleweight champion.

But in May, Charlo captured the fourth and final belt with a 10th-round knockout of Castano.

Now, Tszyu is expecting to face Charlo, but the latter’s team has to iron out details with IBF mandatory Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Murtazaliev has reportedly been a mandatory challenger for the past two years, but was paid to step aside several times.

As for Tszyu, he solidified his top contender status with a decision win over Terrell Gausha in March.

Charlo has already acknowledged the Australian boxer and promised to stop him.

“I’ve sort of accepted this guy’s just an angry man. He’s like an old man who is just grumpy and angry all the time,” Tszyu told Fox Sports.

“That’s his personality. He’s going off at ESPN for not putting him in the pound for pound rankings. He’s going off at reporters. He’s just an angry man. Being emotional like that, it’s not good to have in boxing. So if you can get under his skin, he’s going to be rattled.”

Tszyu previously said he would love a fight with Charlo to happen at the Sydney Football Stadium, but he wouldn’t mind going to the U.S. for the bout.