Ring Magazine connected the news to their canceled 2023 matchup. That history gives promoters an easy selling angle, but the competitive circumstances look entirely different now.

When the fight was first scheduled, Charlo ruled the junior middleweight division while Tszyu was the hungry contender trying to take his position. A broken left hand removed Charlo from their planned January 2023 date.

A two-division jump to face Canelo Alvarez followed after Jermall Charlo stepped aside. Jermell spent most of that evening in retreat, lost a lopsided decision, and has not fought since.

Tszyu is hardly the same surging force either. Sebastian Fundora defeated him over twelve punishing rounds before Bakhram Murtazaliev stopped him in three. His July 26 win over Spence gave him a marquee opponent, but Spence was 36 and returning from nearly three years away.

The fight did nothing to establish Tszyu as a serious middleweight force. He defeated an aging welterweight who had not competed in nearly three years. Beating Spence at 160 pounds is not the same as handling a natural middleweight with the size, strength, and durability of that division.

Tszyu is swimming in a different ocean now. His pressure worked at junior middleweight because he was physically strong enough to force opponents backward and punish them along the ropes. At middleweight, those same tactics must work against naturally larger fighters who may absorb his punches without surrendering ground.

Even an older champion such as Erislandy Lara would be a difficult opponent for the version of Tszyu seen since the first Sebastian Fundora fight. Lara can control range, counter Tszyu’s direct attacks, and force him to reset repeatedly. Tszyu has not shown that his pressure remains effective against that level of middleweight skill.

Moving from Spence to Charlo would postpone that examination. Rather than face a natural middleweight, Tszyu can maintain his profile by fighting another former junior middleweight whose reputation exceeds his present ability.

Charlo fits the strategy. He brings unfinished history, American name recognition, and previous pay-per-view exposure. His time away also makes him far less dangerous than the champion Tszyu pursued three years ago.

The matchup gives both men protection. Charlo avoids rebuilding against a lesser opponent for reduced money, while Tszyu avoids finding out how he fares against a genuine middleweight. Their abandoned 2023 fight gives organizers a familiar story to disguise mutual career protection as unfinished business.