Tim Tszyu says he’s still interested in rescheduling a fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr. at a later date. Unfortunately for the former WBO 154-lb champion Tszyu, he will have to wait awhile before he can reschedule against Vergil. The Golden Boy fighter has bigger fish to fry against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk.
The two were supposed to fight on the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov card on August 3rd in Los Angeles, but Tszyu was forced to pull out due to his cut that he sustained in his last fight against Sebastian Fundora still not being fully healed.
Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) is now fighting an IBF junior middleweight title eliminator on September 22nd against Erickson Lubin or Jesus Ramos. He says he doesn’t care which of the two he faces.
Tszyu wants to capture the IBF title and use it as a tool to get the bigger fights that would elude him as a contender. He feels that without a title, he’s “High risk, low reward” for the top fighters to face.
Vergil Ortiz Jr. is fighting WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk on August 10th on DAZN at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
“The leading contenders are Lubin and Ramos. Either of those” said Tim Tszyu to Fight Hub TV when asked who he wanted to fight next on September 22 for the IBF 154-lb title eliminator.
“Stylistically, very smart, very technical, and knows how to set traps,” said Tszyu about Lubin. “He’s a slick boxer. I just got to be on my game. For me, the belts only matter to put me into the big fights. That’s what I want. Otherwise, I’m just a high-risk, no-reward type of fighter. It’s more of a bargaining tool for me.”
Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) hasn’t fought since last year, on September 30th, when he beat Jesus Ramos with a twelve-round unanimous decision in an impressive performance. It’s unknown why Lubin, 28, hasn’t returned to the ring yet because that was an important win that he should have capitalized on by now.
“It was a minor setback to a major comeback,” said Tszyu about his loss to Sebastian Fundora last March. “If I didn’t get elbowed, it could have been a different story, but that’s in the past. He did what he had to do to win, and kudos to him.”
Tszyu fought with blood leaking into his eyes through the entire second half of the Fundora fight after getting hit with an elbow to the scalp. The match should have been stopped because too much blood was everywhere on the canvas, both fighters and the referee.
“The fear of losing. That’s probably the biggest thing. Having that behind you and the evolution of the no fear. The fear is gone,” said Tszyu, describing what he learned from his loss to Fundora. “I never feared no man, but I always feared what it would be like to lose. I think that’s gone.”
If Tszyu can win the IBF title eliminator, he’ll get a chance to battle for the belt, and he’ll have an excellent chance of winning. He wants a rematch with Fundora and fights with Vergil Jr., Errol Spence, and Terence Crawford.
“For sure, hands down. It’s a main event at least,” said Tszyu about still wanting to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. “Everyone was talking about how it should have been the real main event [for the August 3rd card, which is headlined by Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov]. That fight deserves to be on its own platform.”
If Ortiz gets past Bohachuk, he will be in a position to challenge the winner of the Fundora vs. Errol Spence Jr. fight. That’s the money fight that Ortiz will focus on before going in the direction of a risky clash against Tszyu. Vergil Jr. wants to fight Spence at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Read the full article here
