Tim Tszyu and Tony Harrison were eager to get back in the ring in lieu of waiting out separate shots at the undisputed junior middleweight championship.

The pair of top-rated contenders now turn to each other to satisfy that itch.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that plans are in place for Tszyu and Harrison to meet in a fight that will come with the interim WBO junior middleweight at stake. The bout will take place on March 12 at a location to be determined in Australia. The show will be presented early enough locally to where it will air live during primetime on Saturday, March 11 in the United States, likely on Showtime.

Fox Sports Australia’s Ben Damon was the first to break the story.

Tszyu (21-0, 15KOs) was previously due to challenge undisputed 154-pound king Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19KOs) atop a January 28 Showtime card from Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Charlo was forced to postpone the title defense by at least two months after he suffered a left scaphoid fracture and 5th metacarpal base fracture according to a December 23 medical diagnosis. News of the postponement was announced on Christmas Eve, with Tszyu determined to accept another fight for the sake of remaining active ahead of his first career title fight.

The second-generation boxer—whose father Kostya is a Hall of Fame former undisputed junior welterweight champion—has not fought since a twelve-round win over Terrell Gausha last March 26 in Minneapolis. The fight marked the U.S. debut for the unbeaten Sydney, Australia native, who had to overcome a first-round knockdown to eventually outpoint Gausha.

Tszyu accepted that fight while waiting for the winner of Charlo’s rematch with Brian Castano, who still held the WBO title heading into their May 14 undisputed championship unification bout in Carson, California. Tszyu was formally named the WBO mandatory challenger last summer, shortly after Charlo and Castano fought to a twelve-round draw last July. Charlo came up aces in the rematch, scoring a tenth-round knockout to defend his lineal, WBA, WBC and IBF titles and claim the WBO strap.

With the win came the inherited WBO title defense while Charlo was also obligated to next face IBF number-one contender Bakhram Murtazaliev. A deal was struck for Tszyu to get next while Murtazaliev—the IBF mandatory since a November 2019 title eliminator win—once again agreed to a step aside package that has included appearances on the non-televised portion of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) in each of his last four bouts.

Tszyu was granted permission to fight for the interim WBO title during Charlo’s medically-excused ring absence. Russia’s Murtazaliev (21-0, 15KOs) was approached by Tszyu as the first choice of opponent as the highest-ranked available contender in the WBO 154-pound ratings.

When he wasn’t available for the fight, Tszyu moved on to Harrison, a former WBC titlist who was all too eager to accept.

“Waited patiently,” Harrison said through social media in confirming the upcoming fight.

Detroit’s Harrison (29-3-1, 21KOs) is responsible for the lone defeat on Charlo’s resume, earning a twelve-round, unanimous decision in their December 2018 WBC junior middleweight title fight in Brooklyn, New York. The two were due to meet in a June 2019 rematch, only for Harrison to suffer an injury which pushed their second fight to later that December—exactly 52 weeks to the day of their first fight. Harrison led on one scorecard and trailed on the other two cards through ten rounds before suffering an eleventh-round knockout to end his title reign in their December 2019 scorcher.

Just two fights have followed for the 32-year-old Harrison, both coming after the passing of his father and trainer Ali Salaam in April 2020 during the early stages of the global coronavirus pandemic. In his most recent start, Harrison soundly outpointed Spain’s Sergio Garcia over ten rounds last April 9 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The show was headlined by Sebastian Fundora’s ninth-round stoppage of Erickson Lubin to win the interim WBC 154-pound title in their Fight of the Year-level slugfest.

Harrison became the number-one contender to that title with the win, and was in pursuit of a showdown versus Fundora. The fight was addressed during the annual WBC convention last November in Acapulco, Mexico.

Sampson Lewkowicz, Fundora’s promoter, sought a voluntary defense for Fundora during the ratings portion of the convention, stating that Harrison was not available. That claim was trumped by Alycia Baumgardner, the reigning lineal and unified junior lightweight champion who is trained by Harrison and insisted that her stablemate was available should the WBC order the fight.

Instead, he will risk his WBC ranking for a dangerous assignment where a win over Tszyu would entitle him to a trilogy clash with Charlo.

Per WBO rules, Charlo will have 180 days to face the winner of the interim title fight. It remains unclear if the IBF will attempt during that time to enforce its own, long overdue mandatory title fight.

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