Tim Tszyu is going from losing his world title to Sebastian Fundora — a bloody battle in which Tszyu suffered a nasty injury — to taking on another world titleholder in Bakhram Murtazaliev.
Oh, and he was initially hoping to face Vergil Ortiz this summer, too, until the doctors told Tszyu that he couldn’t yet get back in the ring.
That’s a different route than many other fighters have taken. But this is the way that Tszyu wants things to be.
“There’s no fear. It doesn’t exist in my bloodstream at all,” Tszyu told media on a September 24 conference call. “I just want the biggest and best challengers out there. Whoever they call the bad guy, give him to me. Feed him to me.”
Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) won the IBF junior middleweight title in early April, a week after Tszyu vs. Fundora, knocking out Jack Culcay in the 11th round.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) isn’t overly familiar with his next opponent but otherwise knows what to expect.
“I haven’t really watched much,” Tszyu said. “I know what he brings. He brings the heat. You hit him and he keeps coming. Those types of styles, they’re hard because they’ve got the dog in him. That always presents a tremendous task ahead. I believe in my abilities, and everything’s going according to plan. Nothing is supposed to be easy on the road to the top. There’s no such thing as an easy camp or an easy fight. You want to get to the top and get the big bucks, you got to go through the fire.”
The fire is what Tszyu faced in late March, when his head accidentally collided with Fundora’s elbow toward the tail end of Round 2 and opened a horrifying gash on his hairline. Blood poured out and blocked his vision. Tszyu dropped a split decision and his WBO world title, and Fundora also picked up the vacant WBC belt.
The fire is also what Tszyu would have faced on August 3 had he been cleared to fight Ortiz. Instead, Ortiz wound up winning a battle with Serhii Bohachuk on August 10.
And the fire is what we can expect on October 19 at the Caribe Royale Orlando, when Murtazaliev-Tszyu headlines on Amazon’s Prime Video.
“I’m bringing the heat,” Tszyu said. “Hopefully he doesn’t take a step back. Hopefully there’s not as much blood on my side this time. Hopefully there’s going to be some relentless action, and we bring the fans a fight to remember.”
And if he gets beyond Murtazaliev, Tszyu can keep going for the best and baddest out there, given that he is in a division full of talent.
“Red hot names, some big matchups to be made,” he said. “When you think about it, let’s say in the near future there’s going to be so many crazy matchups to be made. It’s so exciting.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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