Jermall Charlo is set to join the Tim Tszyu-Errol Spence Jr. card in Sydney on July 26, with an Australian opponent expected to be named for the unbeaten former world champion. Ronnie Shields said on Friday that talks were already underway about getting Charlo on the event and that there was a real chance he would fight on the undercard.
Shields said he had just learned that Charlo might be added to the show and that No Limit was already trying to find a suitable Australian opponent. “Today I found out ‘Mal may be fighting on the card too,” Shields said, adding that it was not yet certain but “there is a possibility he will be fighting on the card.” He said the opponent would definitely be Australian, though no name had been announced.
Charlo, who is 34-0, has recently campaigned at middleweight and super middleweight and is ranked No. 4 by the WBA and No. 6 by the WBC at 168 pounds. Shields said Charlo had been training well for the last month and that he was trying to push to get him on the Australia bill. “I’m trying to make a push to see if they can put him on in Australia,” he said, while also noting that he had not yet spoken officially to anyone and that it was his own thinking that the fight could be made.
The addition would give the July 26 card another American name on a night already built around Tszyu and Spence, who are due to headline in Sydney. Spence is expected to arrive in Australia at least two weeks before the fight, and Shields said Charlo could also become a key training partner for him. The move also keeps the long-running family storyline alive, three years after Jermell Charlo walked away from a Las Vegas headliner against Tszyu.
That history has helped turn the Tszyu-Spence event into more than a routine matchup. Brian Norman Jr. has already weighed in on the main event, predicting a first-round knockout for Errol Spence Jr. vs. Tim Tszyu, but the undercard has now become part of the appeal as well. If Charlo is added as expected, the show in Sydney will carry both a deepening American presence and another Australian opponent tied to a rivalry that has followed Tszyu for years.
