Tim Tszyu has his priorities – but no need to sell his soul for money

Junior middleweight Tim Tszyu isn’t interested in prioritizing money over titles and activity – or whatever else he may want to do at any given moment. 

Speaking at a media workout Monday in Las Vegas ahead of his Oct. 19 title fight against current titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, Tszyu emphasized that he, like high-profile peers Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gervonta Davis, is not swayed by boxing’s recent influx of Saudi cash.

“We don’t have to sell our soul, as they say, for money,” said Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs).

Tszyu’s relationship with advisor Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has been rocky. Tszyu, 29, was set to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. as part of a Riyadh Season undercard that would have been on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov event in Los Angeles. Then, a sequence of events unfolded. Tszyu, whose forehead was cut badly in his split decision loss to Sebastian Fundora in March, was not cleared to fight on the card. Ortiz was moved back to Aug. 10 and defeated Serhii Bohachuk via a majority decision in a grueling fight. Most thought Ortiz-Tszyu would be imminent. 

However, Alalshikh unexpectedly cut ties with Tszyu after Ortiz’s win in August. “I will not work with Tim Tszyu,” Alalshikh told Fight Hub TV then. “Let him do his way. He doesn’t understand.”

Despite the drama, Tszyu expressed a desire to fight in Saudi Arabia one day – though acknowledged that his urge to fight in the United States had greater pull. “I’d love to fight in Saudi Arabia. I think it’s an emerging country, first of all,” Tszyu said. “But for me, as a young kid and a boxing lover, America is where it’s at. I grew up watching big fights here, and it has always been a dream of mine to be fighting in the U.S. and experiencing it all.”

Tszyu is now set to face 31-year-old Russian titleholder Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs), who resides in California and is managed by Egis Klimas – the same manager who backs Oleksandr Usyk, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Janibek Alimkhanuly.

And Orlando – in the United States – is indeed where it’s at.

Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.