Brian Castano had to laugh at the irony.

The boxing industry was dealt a Grinch-like blow on Christmas Eve, when Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and Showtime revealed that undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo was forced to postpone his mandatory title defense versus Australia’s Tim Tszyu. A broken left hand forced Houston’s Charlo to withdraw from their previously scheduled January 28 Showtime headliner from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

“I hope Charlo presents medical evidence supporting that the injury he mentions is real for the Tim Tszyu fight,” Castano quipped on Christmas Day. “You never know with him.”

The snide remark was in direct response to what Argentina’s Castano endured from his divisional rival preceding their rematch earlier this year. Castano (17-1-2, 12KOs) suffered a slight biceps tear which forced the cancellation of their planned March 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The bout was rescheduled for May 14 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, putting it ten months after their July 2021 undisputed championship which ended in a disputed split decision draw.

Prior to the rescheduled May date, Charlo—who held the lineal/WBC/WBA/IBF crown at the time—made bold accusations of the unbeaten Castano. Charlo not only claimed that Castano was faking the injury but that the delay was an attempt to stall random drug testing protocols until he was in a better position to defend his WBO title.

Charlo went on to defeat Castano via tenth-round knockout to fully unify the junior middleweight division. He has not fought since then, as the WBO-mandated title fight with Tszyu carried a scheduled January 28 date since mid-summer. Naturally, it was enough time for something to go wrong—which of course proved to be the case when Charlo broke his hand in two places during a December 20 sparring session.

Castano—who also hasn’t fought since the rematch with Charlo—couldn’t wait to verbally return the favor, even if tongue-in-cheek. Charlo did in fact provide proof of injury, posting an image on Instagram of his left hand, wrist and forearm wrapped in a black cast.

“In any case, [Charlo] will now learn that injuries... occur in boxing,” Castano noted. “What goes around comes around.”

The announcement of the Charlo-Tszyu postponement carried the disclaimer that a new fight date is expected in the near future.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox