FOLLOWING a nightmare 2024, Tim Tsyzu is set to make his ring return in just over two weeks’ time, returning to home soil against Michigan’s Joey Spencer after back-to-back defeats Stateside.
Eager to get back into the winners’ column, Australia’s Tszyu, 24-2 (17 KOs), has opened up on the mistakes he made upon his last outing, vowing to put in a much better performance against Spencer, 19-1 (11 KOs), than he did against Bakhram Murtazaliev, 23-0 (17 KOs), last October.
Tszyu began last year as the reigning WBO super-welterweight world champion and was being linked to a fruitful showdown against pound-for-pound sensation Terence Crawford later in the year, presuming he got past Keith Thurman, 31-1 (23 KOs), in March.
Yet, injury to Thurman presented Tszyu with a new opportunity, as fellow 154lb world champion Sebastian Fundora accepted the call as a late-notice replacement. Their title clash included the vacant WBC strap that would have strengthened Tszyu’s negotiating position ahead of a meeting with Crawford.
Although, things did not go to plan for Tszyu against the ‘Towering Inferno’. An early head clash left him hampered with a gruesome cut throughout the bout, playing a major role in a shock split-decision defeat and costing him both titles.
Seven months later, Tszyu was presented with an ideal opportunity to recover from a first career defeat, jumping back into a world title bout as a challenger for Murtazaliev’s IBF super-welterweight crown. The Russian was seen as a relatively easy champion to dethrone beforehand.
However, Murtazaliev instead delivered one of the most dominant performances of the year, brutally dropping ‘The Soul Taker’ on four occasions inside three rounds to force the stoppage.
Six months on and it is now make or break time for Tszyu, who will know that defeat to Spencer on April 6 in Newcastle, Australia, will all but end his reputation as a world title contender and a force at 154lbs.
Speaking to media ahead of the must-win battle, Tszyu admitted that he must not overlook Spencer as he did Murtazaliev, declaring that he plans to ‘keep things smart’ rather than chase an early knockout win in the hope of making a statement to the rest of the division.
“[I need to] not go in like a c**khead. Just try and keep it nice and smart.
“I think I could have taken [Murtazaliev] out in two rounds. That’s what was going through my head. This guy wasn’t going to go past two rounds. And I came in with that intensity.
“A professional fight isn’t two rounds, it’s a 12-round fight and I’ve just got to be smarter.”
Meanwhile 24-year-old Spencer, who is fighting outside of the United States for the first time as a professional and has fought his last three contests as a middleweight, piled further pressure onto the home fighter, stating that his opponent is in a ‘heavy spot right now’.
“The pressure’s definitely on Tim in this fight, definitely. I don’t have any pressure; I’m going in there to win this fight. Every fight’s important, don’t get me wrong but he’s in a heavy spot right now.
“He’s got to win this fight for his career and what he holds up, what he represents. He’s got a country that he represents, and he has a name that he represents that holds a lot of weight.
“He’s definitely got to fight for that and there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that, so we’ll see how he handles it.”
Should Tszyu defeat Spencer on Sunday, April 6, he is expected to finally collide with former unified welterweight champion Thurman, who halted Brock Jarvis on Aussie soil earlier this month.
