Brian Castano slams Tim Tszyu, promises KO of Jermell Charlo, calls out winner of Errol Spence vs Manny Pacquiao
Pay me $10 million and I’ll swim to Australia to knock out Tim Tszyu. That is the stunning demand from world champion Brian Castano.
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Pay me $10 million and I’ll swim to Australia to knock out Tim Tszyu.
That is the stunning demand from world champion Brian Castano, who has told the WBO he will not fight again this year and is determined to get a rematch with Jermell Charlo for the unified super-welterweight championship in early 2022.
Despite WBO rules stating that Castano must defend his belt against a mandatory challenger by November 13, the Argentinian says he’s not interested in No.1 contender Tszyu as his next opponent.
Instead, if he can’t get a Charlo rematch, he wants a bout against the winner of Errol Spence vs Manny Pacquiao, who lock horns on August 22 (AEST).
In a wide-ranging interview with News Corp from his honeymoon resort in Puerto Rico, undefeated Castano and his Los Angeles-based manager Sebastian Contursi addressed the contentious issues arising from his draw against Charlo three weeks ago that has left the division, and Tszyu in particular, in limbo.
TSZYU
Unbeaten Tszyu (19-0, 15KO) is the highest-rated fighter across the super-welterweight ranks and No.1 for Castano’s WBO belt. The Australian has been the most active fighter on the scene, with five knockout wins in the past 16 months all defending his WBO Global title.
But there was a misunderstanding arising from a news story when No Limit Boxing chief executive George Rose, who promotes Tszyu, said he’d be prepared to pay $10 million to stage an event featuring his fighter against Castano or Charlo for the title in Australia.
Both Castano and Charlo took that to mean their purse would be $10 million, instead of the value of the event itself.
The realistic purse for Castano to fight Tszyu in Australia has been offered at around $2 million, but he wants much more.
“If they have the $10 million, I will go to Australia swimming from Argentina and beat him in his own backyard, then take a flight back,” Castano said.
“That would make me very happy. But of course, they have to show me the money.
“It will be very satisfactory for me, I can go there and beat him there. But otherwise they should stop spreading this false news. Put up or shut up.”
Tszyu said this week Castano can run, but he can’t hide forever.
“I never run from anybody, if you look at my resume I went to France, I went to America which is not my original country, so that’s a joke,” said Castano (17-0-2, 12KO).
“It’s a joke from Tszyu that speaks for itself.
“On the contrary, he is the one hiding in Australia and never wants to get out of Australia.
“To be calling out everyone in my division he should come to America which is the mecca of boxing, everybody knows this.
“America is the place he needs to show what he’s really made of.
“Tszyu never gets out of Australia.”
NO LIMIT
There is lingering animosity from Castano’s camp that last year, No Limit attempted to lure former champion Patrick Teixeira – who Castano later defeated for the title – to Australia when he was struggling to get a visa into the United States to defend his belt.
Contursi said: “They’ve been playing dirty tricks since last year because everybody knew at the time Patrick Teixeira, the Brazilian, had some issues to obtain his visa to enter the US.
“The fight between Brian and Teixeira was scheduled for April originally, it was postponed but it was always in place.
“I know for a fact these people sent letters to the WBO trying to take Teixeira to Australia to face Tim Tszyu and taking Brian out of the way. That was the first dirty trick they played.
“Then after Brian finally beat Teixeira for the WBO world title, they started publishing all over the world in the media that they were offering $10 million to Charlo or Castano to go to Australia. They didn’t clarify or mention Australian dollars or American dollars, but everybody understood that $10 million was the purse they were offering for either Charlo or Castano.”
FUTURE PLAN
Contursi said he and Castano have spoken to WBO president Francisco Varcarcel to let him know of their plans to return to the ring in early 2022.
The WBO have yet to mandate Tszyu, or any other fighter, for Castano’s title, seemingly giving him time to secure a rematch against Charlo.
This is despite the IBF ordering Charlo to defend that belt against mandatory challenger Bakhram Murtazaliev, which has halted any rematch negotiations with Castano, and essentially undermines Tszyu’s productivity.
“I am not thinking of a Plan B because my goal is to unify the world titles,” Castano said.
“But if the IBF forces Charlo to have that mandatory, I am thinking of Errol Spence, the winner of Spence-Pacquiao actually but Pacquiao said this was going to be his last fight.
“But I’m still thinking of the Charlo rematch first.
“My ultimate ambition is to unify, win all four belts, and then simply beat the best. The best in my division, then maybe in the future I can move up to middleweight, but I always wanted to fight the best.
“I feel this is my time, this is my era, this is best moment in my career so I want nothing but the best opponents.
“I’m waiting for the rematch, I need it, the people need it, my team, my country, my family, and me.
“This fight, I win. But he was the home guy.
“Every time, I go to fight in my opponent’s home. I am the visitor, every time.
“January, February for the rematch, I am hoping for this.
“I am confident because from the repercussions, everyone wants to see that fight. If the IBF mandatory is the big issue here, they should take a step-aside [fee] because that’s the only obstacle for the direct rematch with Charlo which is what everyone really wants.
“Right now, I relax with my wife on the honeymoon. After this, I go to Argentina, I go to my family, maybe training again, waiting again for the opportunity.
“In the rematch, I will knock out Charlo in eight rounds.”
Castano defeated Spence in the amateurs a decade ago in Venezuela, and Spence had hinted at moving up to super-welterweight in future.
But Castano does believes he is destined to face Tszyu one day.
“Tim Tszyu is a great fighter, a great prospect, but he needs to earn his shot and he still needs to keep facing better opponents to earn that shot,” Castano said.
“It seems that Tszyu or his promoters are obsessed and desperate to get a world title fight, but it was in poor taste when they tried to get Teixeira to Australia.
“I have no problem fighting Tszyu at all, when the time comes. But it seems like they are trying to dictate the terms, I’m tired of watching the fake media all the time mentioning my name.
“And with all due respect, why does it have to be in Australia? When the time comes, maybe it will be in America.”
Should Tszyu not be mandated for Castano’s title in coming weeks, it appears he will face former world champion Tony Harrison (28-3-1, 21KO), who is the only man to have defeated Charlo.
“I think it’s going to be a very interesting fight because of the styles, I don’t think Harrison beat Charlo in that first fight between them but regardless Tony Harrison is a great boxer and he was a champion,” Castano said.
“It’s going to be an interesting fight style-wise because Harrison is a boxer, a counter-puncher, while Tszyu is more like warrior, aggressive fighter.
“So I congratulate Tszyu on taking that fight.”
THE JUDGE
The reason Tszyu is in this situation is because Castano suffered a controversial split draw against Charlo in San Antonio when most had him winning, with judge Nelson Vazquez scoring an inexplicable 117-111 in Charlo’s favour.
“At the time I heard the Nelson Vazquez scorecard I was shocked, I was asking myself, ‘How can it be?’ Castano said.
“I felt like I did a good job and won the fight. There was no way in the world a judge could give me that scorecard.
“The majority of people in the arena were booing like crazy when they hear that 117-111, I don’t know where that came from.”
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