Errol Spence Jr returns to the ring for the first time in three years this month, facing Tim Tszyu in Sydney, Australia.
The former unified welterweight world champion has been inactive since his defeat to Terence Crawford in 2023, leading many to think that retirement was on the cards, particularly when a reported fight with Sebastian Fundora came to nothing.
Tszyu, meanwhile, comes into the contest with some momentum on his side after rebuilding from successive defeats to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev. The Australian has since outpointed Anthony Velazquez and Denis Nurja, and now has the opportunity to claim the biggest win of his career on home soil.
When the bout was agreed in May, it was announced with a 158lb catchweight.
Ahead of landing in Australia, Spence requested to bump the weight up to the middleweight limit of 160lbs, and Tszyu’s team accommodated it. The last-minute nature of the change led to speculation that Spence has struggled to cut weight. Asked by Fight Hub TV for the reason behind his request, however, and he played it down.
“It wasn’t no reason, I was like ‘why fight at 158 when we might as well fight at the weight limit, 160?’ Why not?”
It will be the highest weight of both men’s professional careers, with Tszyu previously holding the WBO belt at super-welterweight. Should Spence emerge victorious, a return to 154lbs could still be on the cards, as major fights against the likes of Fundora, Vergil Ortiz Jr and Jaron Ennis remain available.
First, however, he must come through what is one of the tougher comeback assignments against an aggressive operator like Tszyu.
