‘Does not beat him’: Tszyu T-shirt shows his ‘hit list’… but great has a warning over two top targets

American boxing great Shawn Porter believes Australia has a “real champion” in Tim Tszyu but has warned he is not quite ready to challenge Terence Crawford just yet.

Rather, longtime rival Jermell Charlo looms as the most likely candidate to face Tszyu next after the 28-year-old dominated Brian Mendoza on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

The win, which came in Tszyu’s final fight before he heads overseas, saw the Australian improve to a 24-0 record as he successfully defended his WBO super welterweight title.

Now attention turns towards Charlo and his belts as Tszyu looks to unifying the division against the American, who he described as “delusional” in his post-fight speech.

Tszyu certainly seems keen on the prospect of finally getting to take on Charlo, who he was set to face off against earlier this year before the 33-year-old suffered a hand injury in sparring.

Charlo then went on to move up two weight divisions to fight boxing superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez but Tszyu wants his shot at the American next after that blockbuster bout.

“He (Charlo) is the best 154, but let’s prove it to everyone who is really the king of the division,” Tszyu said after Sunday’s victory.

In fact, Tszyu sported a shirt in the aftermath of his fight showcasing his hit list from this point with Charlo, Crawford and Alvarez all featuring.

Porter though cast doubt over whether Tszyu would be able to beat Crawford without two key improvements to his fighting.

“That Tim Tszyu does not beat Terence Crawford.,” he said on Main Event after Sunday’s fight.

“He needs more defence and I think he needs a little bit more footwork. Those are intangibles you’ve just got to have against Terence Crawford and I think he’s not on Canelo’s radar.”

Even if he was and it involved fighting Alvarez at 168 pounds, Porter questioned whether Tszyu would have the “strength” and “power” to defeat the Mexican over 12 rounds.

In saying all of that, Porter is still a big fan of Tszyu and what he has seen from the undefeated Australian so far — and that’s not just restricted to what he’s done inside the ring.

“Speaking to him, just how he’s handling everything [stands out to me],” Porter said.

“People say never change and he just seems to be calm, cool and collected under everything — even after a big win. He fought lights out.

“I felt like outside of one round it was a shut-out and even with that he’s still humble and not overly excited and still looking forward to what the future of boxing has for him.

“… I’ve been talking to you for so long about the maturity and how much he’s grown in this short amount of time and I just see more and more of how much of a complete champion he is every time I see him out.”

Porter warned earlier in the week that Tszyu will “never see Charlo in the ring”, claiming if the pair were to ever meet it would have to come at 160 pounds.

“As bad as Jermell performed in his last fight, it doesn’t look like he has any intentions of fighting again,” Porter said.

“But when you fight that bad, you have to come back to erase everybody’s memory.

“So it’s really tough to say what Jermell is going to do moving forward but 154 ain’t gunna be it, I will say that.”

While Tszyu was happy to call out Charlo immediately after Sunday’s fight, No Limit CEO George Rose also previously said the American was no longer in their plans for future bouts.

“Brian Mendoza, Errol Spence, Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez … that’s what is next for Tim Tszyu,” Rose told foxsports.com.au earlier in the week .

“Charlo had his chance and he ran. He literally ran.

“He ran from fighting Tim for the undisputed title and then he ran around the ring all the way to the bank against Canelo.

“And given Tim is the most active fighter in the world right now, he isn’t going to sit around and wait for Charlo to decide if and when he’s going to come back to the division.

“Of course we want Tim to become the undisputed champion of the world, but when the guy who has the other belts has one fight every one or two years it’s not good business.”