Following the closure of Showtime Sports, Al Haymon and his Premier Boxing Champions have moved to Amazon Prime Video with reports all-but-confirming who will be involved in the first event.
Tim Tszyu, son of hall of famer Kostya Tszyu, was upgraded to WBO super-welterweight champion last year and made a successful first defence of the belt in October, where he outpointed Brian Mendoza in Australia.
Earlier this month, Vergil Ortiz Jr defeated Fredrick Lawson by first-round KO on his debut at the weight to maintain his 100% knockout ratio across 20 professional contests and was quick to call out Tszyu in the aftermath, to which the Aussie responded positively.
Despite seemingly agreeing to the clash and Ortiz skyrocketing up to sixth in the WBC rankings, he remains unranked with the WBO.
Tszyu appears to have put a delay in those talks by facing a different opponent, with ESPN reporting that Amazon will broadcast him against former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
“Tim Tszyu will defend his WBO junior middleweight title against Keith Thurman on March 30 in Las Vegas, sources tell ESPN. The 154-pound title bout will headline PBC’s first pay-per-view as part of its new deal with Amazon’s Prime Video.”
Mike Coppinger later updated his report by saying that the fight would instead be at a catchweight, meaning no title is on the line.
Tim Tszyu-Keith Thurman will take place at a 155-pound catchweight, sources told ESPN, after the WBO declined to sanction it as a junior middleweight title bout. Thurman is a welterweight, but he competed at 152 pounds in the Olympic Trials.https://t.co/6a3ghZ7hLb
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 25, 2024
Thurman has fought just once since his lone career loss against Manny Pacquiao in 2019, outpointing Mario Barrios almost two years ago.
Still, he is ranked as high as #2 in the WBA welterweight rankings and represents a solid name that would continue to grow Tszyu’s star power if he was to get the win.
PBC’s co-main event on the night is expected to be Rolando Romero-Isaac Cruz, as per ESPN.