Former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu could face Joey Spencer in April in Australia. This would be a confidence boost for the 29-year-old Tszya (24-2, 17 KOS), who has lost his last two fights, starting 0-2 in 2024.
Spencer would be a bounce back fight for Tszya to prepare him for a possible fight against Keith Thurman. That’s if Thurman wins his March 12 bout against Brock Jarvis in Sydney. TSZYU was scheduled to fight former WBC and WBA Welterweight champion Thurman last year, but pulled out of the fight with a biceps injury.
Mandatory fight
Before last year’s disasters, Tszyu would have been seen as an overwhelming favorite going into Spencer (19-1, 11 KOs), but not anymore. It has to be seen as a 50-50 fight as Tszyu has shown that he is unable to make simple adjustments during the fight.
Dan Rafael reports If Tszyu vs. Spencer possible in the first quarter of 2025.
This is a must win for TSZYU, because if he can’t beat Joey Spencer, 24 years old, he needs to seriously consider retirement because this is not a top 154 fighter. On March 25, 2023, Jesus Ramos destroyed in seven rounds.
Since then, Spencer has beaten three raw no-name fighters to build up somewhat. He still hasn’t proven he’s performing at a capable level, but he appears to be good enough to be selected as Tszyu’s April win.
The Murtazaliev disaster
TSZYU was obliterated in three rounds by IBF junior champion Bakhram Murtazaliev on October 19 last year in an embarrassing four-round loss at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
Murtazaliev revealed after the fight that he was fighting with an injured right hand and was forced to use his left. That proved to be more than enough, as he took Tszyu down with that punch several times until the referee finally waved him off in the third round.
Bakhram’s primary weapon is his powerful right arm. You can only imagine what a struggle it would have been if that had worked for him. Tszyu may not have made it out of the first round.
Tszyu lost to 6’5″ Sebastian Fundar by split decision in the 12th round on March 30 of last year. Going into that fight, there was talk of TSZYU potentially fighting Terence Crawford for what would have been big money, but Flonira blew it all.
