WBO Will Strip Jermell Charlo of his Junior Middleweight Title Post Canelo vs Charlo Fight
Jermell Charlo's reign as the undisputed champion at 154 lbs is about to end as the WBO has decided to strip him of his junior middleweight title. However, he will still be allowed to enter the ring for his upcoming Canelo vs Charlo bout against Canelo Alvarez on September 30, where they will compete for Canelo's undisputed title at 168 lbs. The WBO's ruling is that Charlo can be announced as their champion for the fight, but he will be stripped immediately after the official announcement. This situation was somewhat expected when the Canelo vs Charlo fight was announced, as the sanctioning bodies seemed willing to play along with the marketing of "Undisputed vs. Undisputed." However, it was always anticipated that Charlo might have to relinquish one or more of his junior middleweight belts to make the fight happen. While the decision may seem amusing, it is now clear that Tim Tszyu will be elevated from interim champion to full champion status once Charlo is stripped. It's worth noting that even if the Canelo vs Charlo fight doesn't take place on September 30 for any reason, the WBO will still strip Charlo of his title, and Tszyu will become the full titleholder. Tszyu has been the WBO's mandatory challenger for quite some time and has held the interim belt since his victory over Tony Harrison on March 12. He followed that up with a dominant win over Carlos Ocampo on June 18, defending his interim title. Tszyu has been vocal about Charlo being stripped, and it seems he is getting what he wished for. The WBO's decision appears to be the right one considering Charlo's inactivity and failure to defend any of his titles since unifying the 154 lb division by defeating Brian Castano in May 2022. As of now, there's no word on what the other sanctioning bodies will do, but it is possible they might wait until after the Canelo vs Charlo fight to decide whether Charlo will vacate voluntarily or be stripped of his remaining titles. The situation with Tszyu has been widely publicized, prompting the WBO to make their stance known publicly.
