Charlo Denied Australian Visa

Jermall Charlo will not be fighting in Australia on July 25.

Australian authorities denied Charlo a visa for his scheduled appearance on the Errol Spence Jr. versus Tim Tszyu card in Sydney, with multiple outlets confirming that his past legal issues were the cause.

Charlo was arrested for felony assault in Texas in 2022, a case that generated significant coverage at the time. Two years later, he was charged with DWI after crashing a Lamborghini and fleeing the scene — an incident that finally prompted the WBC to strip him of their middleweight title after he had gone nearly three years without making a defence. The Australian visa system, which applies strict scrutiny to applicants with criminal records, apparently took the same view of that history that many in boxing had been taking for years.

Charlo was matched against Koen Mazoudier, a welterweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super welterweight who is not far removed from a stoppage loss to Nikita Tszyu. His previous outings were against Jose Benavidez Jr. and Thomas LaManna.

Charlo had positioned the Mazoudier fight as the first step toward a move to super middleweight and a shot at Jaime Munguia's WBA title. Whether that plan survives a failed visa application and another interruption to a career that has been defined by interruptions at this point is unclear.