A dark streak has come in Timofey Tszyu’s career. In March of this year he unexpectedly lost to Sebastian Fundora, losing his world title, and this paralyzed him.
Before meeting Fundora, Tszyu’s career was developing rapidly. Tim was wisely brought to the top of the rankings; he earned a good record in Australia, after which he set off to conquer the United States. Yes, he never got the fight for the absolute world champion title with Jermell Charlo; Charlo had other plans. However, Jermell was stripped of all the belts, two of which Tim managed to take: first, he knocked down Carlos Ocampo in the first round and became WBO champion, and then he faced Brian Mendoza and won the interim WBC title. Everything seemed to be going as well as possible, on the horizon loomed the great Terence Crawford, who was thinking of changing weight class, and the fight with Tszyu seemed attractive to him.
But Tszyu did not wait for Crawford and agreed to defend the belts against Sebastian Fundora. Sebastian was losing to Brian Mendoza and it was expected that he would not be able to cause any problems for Tim. However, Tszyu’s unfortunate cut on the face in the second round turned the entire plan of the fight upside down. Tim spent the rest of the fight covered in blood, practically not seeing anything. Fundora competently brought the matter to victory, taking advantage of the current situation – this is how the lanky American took the titles from Tszyu and at the same time erased the cherished “zero” in the loss column. Tim took the defeat in stride.
Tim Tszyu
Photo: Steve Marcus/Getty Images
“I could barely see,” Tim Tszyu said after the fight. “The fight got going in the first two rounds, and then boom, I was blinded. But all credit goes to the person who won. You have to admit that things like that happen in boxing, it’s part of the sport. Congratulations to Fundora, he is the new king of the junior middleweight division.”
True, after this there were several interviews in which Tim said that he still considers himself the king of the division and is ready for high-profile fights. But almost six months have passed, and Tszyu still has no opponent. In the spring, they wanted to organize a fight for Tim with undefeated Virgil Ortiz, who last weekend won the WBC interim champion belt by defeating Sergei Bogachuk. But the option with Ortiz fell through, as did the option of a rematch against Fundora. They cannot find an opponent for Tim and gradually his name disappears from the world agenda. Tszyu was at the top for quite a long time, emerging from the shadow of his father, but the loss to Fundora significantly affected his career.
Career options for Tim:
Title rematch or fight with a former star champion. What should Tim Tszyu do next?
On top of all this, Tim managed to lose the favor of the main organizer of all the high-profile battles of recent times: Turki Al ash-Sheikh.
“I’m not going to work with Tim Tszyu. I want him to go his own way, but I won’t work with him,” Al ash-Sheikh said on Fight Hub TV.
Tim did not step aside and said he had no idea what Turki’s statement was about.
“For my part, I cannot comment on this in any way. My team will be in Saudi Arabia this week. I hope there was some misunderstanding on both sides. But I think they will sit down at the negotiating table and discuss plans for the future,” Tszyu said in an interview with No Limit Boxing.
Tszyu had health problems after the fight with Fundora:
Did Fundora take away not only his titles, but also his health? Strange story about Tim Tszyu’s fight
Tim has been unable to find an opponent for quite some time and has fallen out with a world promoter without knowing it. Kostya Tszyu’s son has really hit a low point in his career, although Tim himself is open to challenges and ready to get back on top. He, by the way, visited Las Vegas for the fight between Ortiz and Bogachuk and is still hoping to meet with Virgil. However, the question is whether the American needs Tim right now, when Crawford is in the future. Turki Al ash-Sheikh hinted that he would try to organize a fight between Terence and Virgil, and Tszyu is not included in his plans.
And Tim, apparently, will have to fight against the Russian IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev. For Tszyu this is an excellent opportunity to win the belt, then it will again be interesting when it comes to organizing important fights. In addition, such a fight and a huge risk – a defeat from a boxer who is not the most popular in the division, although undefeated, could completely put an end to Tim’s global ambitions. True, this fight is still at the level of rumors, and Tszyu’s downtime increases every day and certainly does not have a positive effect on his career.
