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Jake Michaels, ESPN Senior Writer
AS FIGHT FANS began filing out of Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena in mid-March this year, having just witnessed Tim Tszyu overwhelm the highly credentialed Tony Harrison and tick off yet another item on his burgeoning boxing bucket list, the newly-crowned WBO interim junior middleweight champion was sat in the bowels of the stadium methodically plotting his next move.
It would surprise nobody that a date with division superstar Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) — who unified all four junior middleweight titles with a 10th-round knockout of Brian Castano in May 2022 — remained at the top of his wish list. The pair had agreed to fight for Charlo’s quartet of straps at 154-pounds in Las Vegas earlier in the year; however, it was indefinitely postponed after the American boxer broke his left hand in two places during a sparring session at the back end of his training camp. It was a roadblock for Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) which ultimately opened the door to fight Harrison — the only man to have beaten Charlo.
With Charlo continuing his rehabilitation, the likelihood of rescheduling their fight anytime soon appeared slim. Frustrating? Sure, but that shouldn’t have mattered for Tszyu, whose meteoric rise from unproven son of a gun to the division’s mandatory challenger had earned him the right to essentially kick his feet up and wait for what could be a potentially life-changing, legacy-shaping fight.
But that’s just not the way he’s wired.
“I’m a fighter. I always want to fight,” Tszyu told ESPN earlier in the year. “I’m not going to wait around for anybody. I like to stay fit and ready. [Not being able to fight Charlo immediately], it’s annoying, but I can only focus on myself and what I’m doing in my career. Nothing else.”
Weeks later Tszyu doubled down, claiming: “I could have gone the easy path, I guess, and said ‘you know what, I’m going to take a little bit of time off and rest’, but that’s not me. I’m motivated. I feel possessed in a certain way where I just need to unleash.”
It was that no-rest, fight-first mentality that ultimately saw Tszyu roll the dice on his future and agree to a bout with Carlos Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs). The experienced Mexican boxer has world championship pedigree. A fighter who has been battle-tested by some of the most highly respected in the sport. A fighter who is fully capable of causing an historic upset and halting Tszyu’s quest to become the undisputed champion of the junior middleweight class.
Like Tszyu, Ocampo established an undefeated record through 22 fights. It was his 23rd, against Errol Spence Jr. in mid-2018, when he suffered his first loss by way of an opening-round knockout. The 27-year-old rebounded with 12 consecutive wins before failing last time out by unanimous decision when he squared off with Sebastian Fundora in California for the WBC interim super welterweight title.
Ocampo is now venturing outside North America for the first time. He will do battle with Tszyu at a sold-out Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Sunday, a fight in which the Sydneysider will look to defend his interim world title for the first time. But the stakes are now far greater than that solitary belt given last month’s announcement from the World Boxing Organization, which ordered Tszyu to fight Charlo no later than Sept. 30 this year.
“It’s massive. It’s the news we’ve been waiting on,” George Rose, No Limit Boxing CEO and Tsyzu’s promoter, said. “If Tim loses, it’s over. No Charlo. No undisputed, no nothing. The stakes couldn’t be higher.”
That’s not hyperbole. The provision of the WBO’s mandate is that Tszyu gets through Ocampo unscathed. If he were to lose, it would be devastating. Even suffering any sort of serious injury would be debilitating. He would be ruled out of Charlo contention — Ocampo would leapfrog him in the division pecking order and be entitled to fight for undisputed champion status — setting him back years and undoing the majority of the résumé-building and name-making he has been forced to do since turning professional. He may never earn such a coveted opportunity again.
The risk is monumental, but you’d never know it by Tszyu’s demeanor and the confidence exuding from him. He even turned down a perfectly legitimate and reasonable excuse for withdrawal earlier in the month having been bitten by a dog on his right forearm at a friend’s barbecue, an attack which forced him to undergo surgery and receive 26 stitches. “A lot of people would have pulled out, but I’m not like that,” he declared days later, once again proving he isn’t bothered by, or paying much attention to, a risk-reward matrix which is heavily out of his favour. Instead, all he’s concerned with is his legacy and continuing to build on it.
“Every fight I go into now is definitely a statement type fight, not just for everyone but more for myself. To keep proving to myself that I’m the best in the division [and] to keep trying to prove it to the other boys as well. Let them know I’m coming,” said Tszyu. “The motivation keeps getting bigger and bigger because the prize keeps getting bigger and bigger, and now what’s on the line is getting bigger and bigger.”
Tszyu has never suffered from a shortage of confidence. He knows he will enjoy the overwhelming crowd support this weekend on the Gold Coast, a city he has fought in just once in his career back in 2017. He knows he possesses the skill, weapons and stamina to outwork and outlast Ocampo. He also knows he’s the overwhelming favourite and is expected to win.
And if he does, that long-awaited battle with Charlo is guaranteed to take place within 3½ months. He will finally score the fight and opportunity he has been craving, have the chance to emulate his legendary father, Kostya, and live out a childhood dream.
“Charlo is the No. 1 priority. That’s the name that I want on my résumé,” Tszyu told reporters in the lead-in to his fight with Ocampo. “As you play in video games, there’s a big boss and you’ve got to get rid of all these little bosses on the way to the big boss. Ocampo is next, but Charlo is the big boss I’ve got my eyes on. I believe in myself. I believe in what I go through and I think the opportunity will come.”