At the beginning of the year, Tim Tszyu was largely considered as the man to beat in the super-welterweight division but the Aussie has fallen down the pecking order thus far in 2024. To add to Tszyu’s problems, Saudi boxing catalyst Turki Al-Alshikh has ruled out working with him for the time being. Now, Tszyu has had his chance to respond.
Following in the footsteps of his legendary father Kostya Tszyu, ‘The Soul Taker’ has been respected as a serious player in the sport in his home country for a number of years and fans around the globe saw why once he defeated Terrell Gausha in 2022 in his first contest outside of Australia.
That victory was followed up by wins over Tony Harrison, Carlos Ocampo and Brian Mendoza back on home soul, the last of which saw him make a first defence of the WBO super-welterweight title after his WBO interim belt was upgraded to the full championship.
In his second defence of the title, Tszyu was expected to meet with Keith Thurman in the United States until the latter pulled out due to an injury. His replacement could not have been more unconventional. Tszyu was instead tasked with the aptly named ‘Towering Inferno’ that is the 6’5” Sebastian Fundora but refused to withdraw from the bout and went toe-to-toe with the Floridian in Las Vegas in March.
As if the size of Fundora was not enough, Tszyu was dealt with a sizeable cut early on in the fight and fought through the fire with a bloodied face, only to lose his belt on the cards in a split-decision defeat.
Earlier this month, Tszyu was set to make his comeback on a Turki Al-Alshikh card against then 100% knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. but was unable to properly spar as the cut had not fully healed, with Ortiz opting to move on and face Serhii Bohachuk – whom he defeated by majority-decision after being taken the distance for the first time.
When asked whether Tszyu-Ortiz could be made again or if the former WBO title-holder could land a showdown with Terence Crawford, Al-Alshikh slammed the door on working with the 29-year-old in the near future, SI reports.
“I will not work with Tim Tszyu, Let him do his way, he doesn’t understand.”
Although, in an interview with Fight Hub TV, Tszyu cut a confused figure and admitted that there may have been some ‘miscommunication’ between his team and Al-Alshikh.
“I’d love to work with him because I like what he’s about, he’s all about making the big fights happen and I’m all for that but I’ve got a team, a professional team with me and everything goes through that.
“From my end I can’t really comment, my team is in town this week so maybe there has been some miscommunication from both sides but hopefully they can sit down and discuss about what’s the plan in the future.”
However, it is not all doom and gloom for the front-footed fan-favourite, as Tszyu seems poised to challenge for a world title in his very next fight, expected to challenge for Bakhram Murtazaliev’s IBF title in the 154lb division.
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