Tim Tszyu will be elevated to full WBO light middleweight world champion as soon as Jermell Charlo is announced as such in his controversial clash with Canelo Alvarez.
The WBO confirmed the move on Thursday in a lengthy statement that also sanctioned the September 30 super-fight that scuppered Tszyu’s mandatory shot at Charlo for all the belts.
Charlo pulled out of the obligatory Tszyu fight to instead jump two divisions and meet Alvarez in a big-money play that was always likely to cost him him status.
Tszyu beat Tony Harrison to claim interim status and retain that with a knockout of Carlos Ocampo to retain it while waiting for Charlo, who originally delayed the fight due to injury.
The WBO statement outlined that recognition of Charlo’s status as champion would be “terminated” as soon as he entered the ring in Las Vegas next month and was announced.
Tszyu will then be automatically elevated to full champion, as he would if the Canelo-Charlo bout does not go ahead for any reason.
Charlo dismissed Tszyu’s pulling power in an interview ringside at the Terence Crawford-Error Spence Jr fight on the weekend.
Both middleweights have been linked to the Australian, but a more likely fight for Tszyu could be against American Brian Mendoza.
He holds the interim WBC and, if that organisation follows the WBO’s lead and strips Charlo, it would mean a Tszyu-Mendoza fight would be a world title unification bout.