Bizarre reason why Jermell Charlo was stripped of world title the moment Canelo Alvarez fight started

Jermell Charlo’s WBO light middleweight title was stripped moments before the fight against super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez officially started. It is strange news for many boxing fans considering that none of Charlo’s titles were on the line for this boxing match.

But an interesting turn of events led to Charlo getting stripped of the title and here is why. Australian boxer Tim Tszyu was declared as the mandatory challenger for former WBO light middleweight champion Brian Castano in August 2021. However, WBO went ahead with the Charlo-Castano rematch that Charlo won to become the unified champion.

Tszyu was expected to challenge Charlo in January 2023 but the latter broke his hand in training, resulting in the fight getting canceled. Tszyu was hoping to fight the champion at a later date but Charlo moved up two weight classes to challenge Canelo in his next fight.

The WBO supported Charlo vs. Canelo by making a ruling in August but they also announced that Charlo would be stripped of the title as soon as the fight started for not contesting against the mandatory challenger. Therefore Tim Tszyu is now the WBO light middleweight champion.

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Jermell Charlo loses to Canelo Alvarez

Jermell Charlo took a major risk by taking a two-division jump to challenge super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 30. He was a huge underdog heading into the fight due to the massive gap. On the night of the fight, Canelo proved to be a better fighter and emerged victoriously via unanimous decision.