Tim Tszyu-Erickson Lubin purse bids cancelled

Purse bids for the fight between Tim Tszyu and Erickson Lubin have been cancelled.

Representatives of Lubin, 28, informed the IBF that their fighter wouldn’t be “medically fit” to fight, BoxingScene understands; a date of July 30 had been set for purse bids for a proposed final eliminator for the IBF junior-middleweight title

No Limit Boxing and Tszyu, 29, had hoped to stage the contest in Australia on September 22, and are waiting on the sanctioning body to instruct on a potential next move. 

It is also understood that they had attempted to make a fight between Tszyu and Lubin in October 2023 but that a perceived lack of interest from Lubin and those around him contributed to the then-undefeated Tszyu instead fighting and defeating Brian Mendoza in the Gold Coast. Bakhram Murtazaliev is the reigning champion.

Tszyu lost for the first time in March, when a significant cut suffered against Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas proved influential throughout a dramatic fight he had been expected to win. The time that cut required to heal meant that plans for him to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr in Los Angeles on August 3 had to be abandoned, but he has since been cleared to start full sparring and hopes to fight on September 22, regardless.