TIM Tszyu’s “redemption tour” continues with the Sebastian Fundora rematch on July 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Determined to rebound following back-to-back defeats to Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev in 2024, the teak-tough Aussie thrashed Joey Spencer in his homeland earlier this year.
But he doesn’t feel he’ll have redeemed himself fully until he’s scored a win over Fundora.
“This is the ‘main’ fight in Tszyu’s self-branded “Redemption Tour,” he told Boxing News ahead of his return to the ring.
A bloody cut from an errant elbow changed the complexion of Tszyu’s first fight with Fundora, before Bakhram gave him a beating. But “it’s not about how you fall,” he said earlier in the year. “It’s about how you get back up.”
Tszyu breezed past Spencer but told BN the significance of this next fight. “This is the main one,” he said. “This is the actual redemption and where it all begins. I’m back where I started.”
To prepare for Fundora, Tszyu brought in the 6-foot-3 Mykal Fox, who has a comparable reach to Fundora. Tszyu’s uncle and trainer, Igor Goloubev, has also been holding pads at an absurdly high level to get Tszyu used to hitting upwards.
“We got some local boys and amateur boys from New Zealand for sparring,” he said. “And when you have to find people that tall, they’re usually a bit heavier, like light heavyweights. But that’s the type of work I’ve been getting.”
Fundora’s best asset, according to Tszyu, is his “work-rate” and his ability “to throw punches non-stop. That’s the hardest thing to deal with because he’s a freak,” he said. “It’s the only way to say it. He’s an annoying fighter whose awkwardness you just have to deal with.
“But I’m self-confident. I know what I possess. If I stick to my game-plan, and keep my mind sharp, that’s what’s going to happen. I don’t need the past to be reminded, it’s about living in the present and fulfilling what’s going to happen in the future.”
Victory for Tszyu would not only complete his redemption arc, but propel him back to the top of a wildly-competitive super welterweight landscape. And his next opponent could be a familiar one.
Tszyu was supposed to fight fellow PBC boxer Keith Thurman last year, but the Floridian withdrew at the eleventh hour, citing injury. Fundora replaced Thurman with two weeks to the fight. The rest is history.
A fight against Thurman could still happen, though. “He looked good against Brock Jarvis who is not an A-level fighter. But Thurman still got the job done in style.
“There is definitely potential in a Thurman fight in the future.”
The Fundora vs Tszyu rematch precedes Manny Pacquiao’s return to the ring, aged 46, against Mario Barrios in a WBC welterweight world championship bout.
The Premier Boxing Champions event airs as a Prime Video PPV in the US and UK.
