Tim Tszyu doesn’t doubt the seriousness of Jermell Charlo’s hand injury.

A frustrated Tszyu just thinks the ease with which he handled Tony Harrison impacted Charlo’s approach to the recovery process and having their 154-pound title fight rescheduled. Tszyu stopped Detroit’s Harrison, the only opponent who has beaten Charlo, in the ninth round March 12 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Tszyu thinks Charlo, who was part of Showtime’s broadcast team that night, now views him as a true threat to his reign as boxing’s undisputed 154-pound champion.

“I think he did break his hand,” Tszyu told BoxingScene.com. “I think it was a serious injury. I knew that he didn’t take me seriously, though. I knew that he thought it was gonna be a walk in the park and as soon as the Tony Harrison fight finished, his mind changed. He knows that he’s in for a real fight and he needs a real preparation, which I don’t blame him.

“You know, you want the best, 100 percent of Jermell Charlo there is. I think that’s the position we’re at. I think his hand is healing. Hand injuries, they’re always gonna take a long time. That’s just how it is. I know that for a fact. So, I think he wants it to a hundred percent heal, and that’s my take.”

Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs), who knocked out Harrison in the 11th round of their rematch in December 2019, hasn’t boxed since he knocked out Argentina’s Brian Castano (17-1-2, 12 KOs) in the 10th round of their own rematch to become boxing’s first fully unified 154-pound champion of the four-belt era 13 months ago at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Sydney’s Tszyu must defeat Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo this weekend to maintain his status as the mandatory challenger for Charlo’s WBO junior middleweight title. Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) will make the first defense of his WBO interim 154-pound championship against Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) on Sunday afternoon at Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Australia.

Showtime will televise Tszyu-Ocampo live as the opener of a doubleheader scheduled to air Saturday night in the United States (11:30 p.m. EDT; 8:30 p.m. PDT). Ra’eese Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs), of Muskegon, Michigan, and Australia’s Sam Goodman (14-0, 7 KOs) will open Showtime’s telecast in an IBF 12-round, 122-pound elimination match.

Foxtel and Kayo will televise Tszyu-Ocampo on pay-per-view in Australia ($59.99; 12 p.m. AEST). If Tszyu conquers Ocampo, he doesn’t think he’ll have to wait too much longer to challenge Charlo.

“I think some talks have been going on in the background,” Tszyu said, “for some time in October.”

Tszyu would have preferred to not fight twice when he had already secured a shot at Charlo’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts, but he doesn’t think Charlo is avoiding him.

“He’s a fighter, man,” Tszyu said. “He’s not scared of no one. A lotta people sit on the couch and say this and that, but us fighters, we’re not scared of no one. We’ll fight whoever it is. That’s how we are, our mentality. So, I don’t think he’s scared. He’s just taking extra precautions, I guess. For me, it’s frustrating because it’s taken too long. You know, we were supposed to fight last year in November. Then they pushed it to January. And then, after January, it’s still not happening. We still don’t have the date.”

Charlo, 33, and Tszyu, 28, were supposed to headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader January 28 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Their bout was postponed indefinitely once Charlo suffered two fractures to his left hand during a sparring session a few days before Christmas.

Tszyu is consistently listed as an 8-1 favorite to beat Ocampo. The 27-year-old Ocampo has lost only a 12-round unanimous decision to former WBC interim super welterweight champ Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) since IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) stopped him in the first round five years ago.

“I’m just looking forward to a fan-friendly fight,” Tszyu said, “and I’ll see everyone in October in America, hopefully.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.