Tim Tszyu (21-0) & Tony Harrison (29-3-1) both made weight with half a pound to spare as the pair went head to head for the final time before their WBO interim super-welterweight title fight in Sydney, Australia. Both fighters weighed in at the first time of asking and weighed in at 153.5 lbs, respectively, ahead of their highly anticipated encounter at the Qudos Bank Arena.
As tense as it gets… WOW! 😲
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The pair then faced off intensely, knowing that the contest's winner would propel themselves into pole position to face undisputed world champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1). Tszyu was supposed to challenge Charlo for his world titles on the 28th of January in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, Jermell hurt his hand in preparation for the fight with the unbeaten Tszyu. Upon news of the injury, Tszyu urged the WBO to allow him to contest an interim title instead of waiting for Charlo to recover from his hand injury. Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev was the WBO’s number two-ranked contender within the super-welterweight rankings of the WBO. However, the Russian passed on the opportunity to face Tszyu.
Harrison will seek to secure a third fight with Charlo, with the pairing having fought back-to-back in December of 2018 & 2019, respectively. Harrison would defeat Charlo firstly via a close unanimous points verdict (115-113x2 & 116-112) before Charlo and Harrison produced a fight-of-the-year contender the following year. Charlo would reclaim his WBC world title, which he lost to Harrison the year previously via an eleventh-round knockout.
The winner between Tim Tszyu & Tony Harrison will likely have to wait till July for their opportunity to face Jermell Charlo.