Tim Tszyu vs Jermell Charlo superwelterweight world title fight date locked in

Tim Tszyu’s date with destiny has been confirmed with the Aussie set to square off soon against an undisputed world champion.

Tim Tszyu is confident of defeating world champion Jermell Charlo. Photo by Gregg Porteous/No Limit Boxing

Tim Tszyu has a date for his first world title fight.

The Australian became the mandatory contender for the superwelterweight world title after his comeback win over Terrell Gausha in America earlier this year.

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The victory launched him into pole position to take on undisputed superwelterweight champion Jermell Charlo and on Wednesday a date for the world title fight was announced.

Tszyu and Charlo will enter the ring in America on January 28 (that’s January 29 in Australia), with an exact location in the States still to be determined.

The WBO last month ordered Charlo to defend his belts (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) against Tszyu but official confirmation of a fight between the pair had been delayed after Charlo also agreed to fight another mandatory challenger, Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Tszyu is still recovering from hand surgery following his March win over Gausha while Charlo last fought in May when he stopped Brian Castano.

Tszyu vs Gausha. Adam Bettcher/Getty Images/AFP

The fight is a bit later than what Tsyzu was expecting, with the Aussie predicting the bout to take place in October or November.

Tszyu hopes the world title fight will take place in Las Vegas and plans on heading over to the States a few months prior to prepare.

“I’ll be heading to America for maybe two months, doing my prep there, getting the best sparring and using the best facilities,” Tszyu told news.com.au before the date was announced.

“Just being in the best shape and being ready for the fight.”

The 27-year-old can’t wait to step in the ring with Charlo and show he can match the cocky American’s strong punching power.

“I want to go straight to the top,” Tszyu said. “I want to challenge the very best there is out there. I know I’ve got what it takes to win.”

He joked his plan to beat Charlo is “don’t get hit”.

“Manoeuvre and don’t get it,” Tszyu said.

“Punch him harder. I want to stop him. I want to stop this bloke. I want to cause him pain.

“To be great, you’ve got to prove them all wrong. That’s what it takes. Simple”.