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The delay in a ruling from the WBO proved to be well worth the wait for Brian Castano.
Boxingscene.com has confirmed that Castano has been approved to proceed with his rescheduled undisputed junior middleweight championship rematch with lineal/WBA/WBC/IBF champion Jermell Charlo. The division’s top two fighters were forced to wait more than two weeks for the WBO to make their final ruling, with the Puerto Rico-based sanctioning body permitting Castano to bypass his mandatory title defense in favor of a second fight with Charlo which will take place May 14 on Showtime from a location to be determined.
“The WBO World Championship Committee grants sanction approval of the Undisputed Jr. Middleweight Championship Contest between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano,” Luis Batista-Salas, chairman of the WBO Championship Committee informed all parties in an eleven-page official ruling, a copy of which was obtained by BoxingScene.com. “The fight must take place no later than Saturday, May 14, 2022.
“If the fight does not take place regardless of the circumstances attributed to Brian Castano, the WBO Jr. Middleweight Championship Title will be declared vacant automatically (“Ipso Facto”) per the applicable WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests stated herein and the powers of the WBO Executive Committee, and the sanction approval of the bout is terminated “Ipso Facto.”
The originally scheduled rematch was due to take place March 19 at Crypto.com Arena. As of this writing, the venue is still available for May 14 pending the potential postseason availability of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and L.A. Lakers and the NHL’s L.A. Kings, the building’s primary occupants.
Castano (17-0-2, 12KOs) was due to make the second defense of his WBO title versus Charlo (34-1-1, 18KOs), only to withdraw after suffering a slight biceps tear in early February. The unbeaten Argentinean was then forced to respond to a ‘Show Cause’ letter issued by the WBO, upon the request of mandatory challenger Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15KOs) whose team sought to enforce that status.
Confusion was raised by the Tszyu camp, who insisted that they initially agreed to allow the Charlo-Castano rematch to move forward with the understanding that it would take place February 26 and with the unbeaten Aussie to appear on the undercard. It was also alleged by Team Tszyu that the date was then changed to March 19 but without a formal announcement to confirm.
Castano was able to show proof of injury as well as dispute all of the claims raised by Tszyu’s team, though confirmation of the provided evidence led to the WBO delaying its final decision by nearly one week.
Tszyu will now forward with his previously announced fight with Cleveland’s Terrel Gausha, which will headline a March 26 Showtime tripleheader from The Armory in Minneapolis. With a win, Tszyu is guaranteed a shot at the WBO title, whether versus the winner of Charlo-Castano II or the next highest ranked challenger in the event the belt is vacated.
There is also language in the ruling that covers Tszyu in the event that Castano is left without an opponent for May 14 or if the fight does not take place by that date for any reason.
“If Jermell Charlo suffers an injury or is unavailable to fight for whatever reasons, the WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion must fight the WBO Mandatory Challenger immediately in his next bout,” specified Batista-Salas. “The Committee reserves the right to issue any further rulings deemed necessary, helpful and convenient to accomplish the purposes, policies and intent of the WBO rules.”
The rematch will now take place ten months after their terrific first fight last July 17 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, which ended in a split decision draw. Castano won by score of 114-113 on the card of Steve Weisfeld, while Charlo—was given the nod by judge Nelson Vazquez, whose scorecard of 117-111 generated massive public scorn.
Judge Tim Cheatham (114-114) had the fight dead even, thus producing a split decision draw and with the sport left without its first-ever four-belt undisputed junior middleweight champion.
The WBO was prepared to remove its sanctioning from the planned rematch, upon learning that the rescheduled date would trickle out past April. Tom Brown of TGB Promotions—the lead promoter for the first fight and the forthcoming rematch—successfully petitioned for a modest extension due to the lack of available April dates on Showtime, which carried the first fight and will do the same for their second act.
Charlo is a two-time WBC titleholder, having reclaimed the belt in an eleventh-round knockout of Tony Harrison in their December 2019 rematch. Charlo avenged his lone career defeat with the win, which took place exactly 52 weeks prior to their first fight which saw Harrison claim a disputed points win.
Two title defenses have followed for Charlo, both coming in unification bouts. He defended the WBC belt while claiming the WBA “Super” and IBF titles in an eighth-round knockout of Jeison ‘Banana’ Rosario in September 2020. An unwelcomed ten-month ring absence came ahead of his split decision draw with Castano, who won the WBO belt in a twelve-round, unanimous decision over Patrick Teixeira last February 13 in Indio, California.
The fight came more than fifteen months after Castano’s previous ring appearance, who waited out the process to claim the title. His lone title defense came in the aforementioned draw with Charlo.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox