Tim Tszyu says there’s no hurry for him and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. to struggle. The 2 fighters have been purported to struggle on August third in a Riyadh Season occasion, however Tszyu needed to cancel the struggle as a result of his reduce from his earlier struggle wasn’t healed.
(Credit score: Joseph Correa/Premier Boxing Champions)
This week, Tszyu had expressed curiosity in rescheduling in opposition to the unbeaten Ortiz Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs). Nevertheless, in an interview in the present day, Tszyu modified his thoughts, saying there’s no “huge rush” to struggle the 26-year-old Vergil Jr.
Vergil Jr. not too long ago captured the WBC interim 154-lb title in a questionable 12-round majority resolution win over Serhii Bohachuk on August tenth in Las Vegas. It was a detailed struggle that simply might have gone the opposite approach.
Certainly, many followers seen Bohachuk as deserving of the win, and so they have been troubled when Ortiz Jr. selected to not give him a rematch to clear up the controversy. The scores have been 114-112, 114-112 for Vergil Jr. and 113-113.
After the controversy over that struggle, it’s not stunning that Tszyu isn’t in a rush to struggle Ortiz Jr. and probably discover himself in the identical place. He would seemingly be the B-side, even when he got here into the struggle with the IBF belt in his possession.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) will problem IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev this Saturday, October nineteenth, on the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. If Tszyu wins that struggle, he’ll have a useful chess piece to curiosity Terence Crawford or Errol Spence. These could be a lot larger cash fights than a conflict in opposition to Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“I don’t actually know, in all honesty. Proper now, I’ve bought a plan. There are heaps of him. Me and him are younger. There’s not such an enormous rush to make it occur now,” mentioned Tim Tszyu to Struggle Hub TV when requested about whether or not he’d prefer to reschedule the struggle with Vergil Ortiz Jr. “We’ve nonetheless bought heaps of time left.”
It’s comprehensible why Tszyu, 29, wouldn’t wish to struggle Vergil proper now. That will be a tricky struggle for him, and it wouldn’t carry within the cash that among the different fights would. Tszyu is interested by these fights:
– Terence Crawford
– Canelo Alvarez
– Errol Spence
– Sebastian Fundora
It’s unknown whether or not Crawford could be interested by preventing Tszyu in a unification match, as a result of he was buying and selling message on social media this week in opposition to Conor McGregor.
“As quickly as I get a struggle provided, there’s no query, ‘Sure.’ I don’t want to look at tapes and give it some thought. Straightaway, ‘Sure.’ It simply so occurs that the reduce was nonetheless therapeutic,” mentioned Tszyu about his canceled struggle on August third in opposition to Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“As quickly as I accepted the struggle, it was a few days after I bought my stitches out. So it was nonetheless recent. As quickly as I got here again from somewhat coaching camp with my dad, it was nonetheless not able to go. Lately, while you’re at this degree, you’ve bought to be 100%. There’s no such factor as taking a brief nook and speeding issues and never doing issues professionally,” mentioned Tszyu about why his struggle in opposition to Vergil Ortiz Jr. didn’t occur.
If Tszyu and Ortiz Jr. maintain successful, they’ll ultimately meet up down the street. Nevertheless, it’s questionable whether or not we’ll see that struggle occur within the subsequent two years as a result of there are quite a lot of different extra compelling matchups for each.
“I’m blissful within the place I’m at. What do I have to do? Every part is sweet at this stage. If there’s huge fights to be made, then yeah, we’ll begin speaking and think about it,” mentioned Tszyu when requested if he’d be interested by preventing on the Riyadh Season playing cards. “Proper now, I’ve bought all of the fights in entrance of me. So, we’ll see the way it goes.
“Yeah, 100%. I’ve principally moved right here,” mentioned Tszyu, when requested if he’d like all the massive fights in opposition to Errol Spence, Sebastian Fundora and Terence Crawford to occur within the U.S. “I’m residing in a home right here. I’ve been right here for the final three and a half months. I’m principally in America right here to dwell my dream.”
Spence is meant to be preventing Fundora subsequent, and he’s not prone to win that struggle. If Spence wins, a rematch between him and Crawford could be extra sensible than a conflict in opposition to Tszyu. A struggle between Spence and Tszyu could be entertaining if it occurs as a result of each guys are large punchers.
“It might be cracking,” mentioned Tszyu when requested what a struggle between him and Crawford would seem like. “They are saying, ‘Kinds make fights.’ It might be one hell of a present, that one. I feel he did properly,” mentioned Tszyu about Crawford’s efficiency in his debut at 154 in opposition to WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August third.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is specializing in getting the most important cash fights doable, and he’s not prone to comply with a match in opposition to Tszyu. He desires the PPV-level fighters or ones which have belts.
“Critics are at all times going to be like that, however I feel he did properly. Madrimov will not be a bum. Individuals have to know. 154 is a special division from 147. That’s one other factor. The boxing dynamic adjustments in three months and 6 months.
“There’s a brand new winner; there’s a brand new loser. There are entertaining fights, and a few folks’s inventory goes up, and a few folks’s inventory goes down,” mentioned Tszyu when requested who he desires to struggle in 2025.
Tszyu is quiet about who he desires to struggle subsequent 12 months, however he desires to struggle Crawford, Spence, or Canelo. If he can’t get any of these fighters, he’ll shoot for a struggle in opposition to Fundora if he nonetheless holds the WBC and WBO 154-lb belts.
