SYDNEY, Australia – Tim Tszyu has taken a “massive risk” in choosing to fight Anthony Velazquez on Wednesday evening, according to his promoter.
It was in August when No Limit’s George Rose spoke of the need for Tszyu, then a month removed from being stopped by Sebastian Fundora, to rest and of how they “wouldn’t be looking to rush him back into the ring this year”.
Tszyu then announced the recruitment of Pedro Diaz as his new trainer in October, and spoke of potentially fighting before the year’s conclusion in mid-November, shortly before the date and venue – December 17 at Sydney’s TikTok Entertainment Centre – for his match-up with an undefeated opponent who has won 15 of his 18 fights inside the distance was confirmed.
Tszyu’s popularity – he is Australia’s highest-profile fighter – owes in no small part to his fearlessness. He first agreed to fight Fundora at late notice despite preparing for Keith Thurman – a considerably different nature of opponent – was determined to fight on against despite in the second round suffering a significant cut in his scalp, responded to the defeat, the first of his career, that followed by challenging the heavy-handed Bakhram Murtazaliev instead of prioritising a tune-up, and when he was finally again on course to confront Thurman, instead risked fighting Fundora again.
Each of the risks Tszyu has taken have, perhaps unfairly, worked against him. It is also tempting to conclude that he would have benefitted from a break from training and fighting after losing to Murtazaliev instead of so quickly agreeing to fight Joey Spencer, regardless of the victory that followed, and it is similarly tempting to conclude that in addition to resting he would have benefitted from more time with Diaz in the gym instead of in the ring.
It says much about his ongoing marketability that his promoters and broadcasters Main Event were so easily convinced by the commercial value involved in him fighting a lower-profile junior middleweight despite them having a relatively short time in which to sell tickets and also to build a pay-per-view event.
If he loses again, and on the occasion of his first fight in his home city for almost three years, it is difficult to see how his reputation can again be recovered. That is the risk he, his promoters and many observers recognise he is taking with one of the most engaging of careers. If, as expected, he wins, risks will also almost certainly be taken again.
“It’s a massive risk,” No Limit’s Matt Rose told BoxingScene. “But we always believe in Timmy, and one of the things we’ve done from the start is – that belief in Timmy has never waned, and next week is the same thing. We’ll put on a show; we’ll make sure it’s a spectacle, and then it’s in Timmy’s hands for the rest.
“Any fight coming back from what he’s endured over the last 18 months is always gonna be difficult. Next week he’s fighting a guy – 18 wins, 15 knockouts. Every fight Tim has after this is very important and is a risk. But we’re in the sport – that’s what the sport’s about. The sport isn’t about not taking risks. Next week’s a big risk in that Tim’s fighting a puncher and he has to be on his game. But we believe Tim Tszyu’s elite. We believe he’s a special fighter, and sometimes in sport you fall short, and on these occasions, the last 18 months, there’s been occasions we’ve just fallen short, and that’s effected the path we had in mind.
“I still go back to the Fundora fight. I believe he was destroying Fundora until he got the head cut. Nothing’s easy in professional sport. People have to remember – Tim has only lost to the very, very elite. They’re the best in the world in that 154 division. At any one time, Tim’s been the best at 154.
“I believe when he fought [in 2023] Tony Harrison he proved he’s the best at 154; was set to fight [Jermell] Charlo just before that; the Charlo fight just fell over. There hasn’t been a lot of things that have been lucky for us in that sense. Tim Tszyu’s showing who he is as a person – the resilience he has. He’s got resilience like no other fighter in the world. To be able to continue to strive for the success he’s striving for – many would have tapped out long ago. That’s what makes him special. It’s why we love him, and I’m looking forward to next Wednesday. Am I going to be nervous? Yeah. But every fight, when you go into big fights like that, if you don’t feel the nerves, you don’t care.
“Timmy’s hard to convince when he’s got his mind set on something, and sometimes in life you need a purpose, and I think Tim wanted that purpose; he wanted to right the wrongs; this year he hasn’t been able to get the right result, and I admire the fact that he’s gone and trained hard and wanted to get back in and win before the end of the year. One of the things was he wanted to come off a win going into 2026; we picked a date, he said ‘Yes’, and we’re on.”
Jeff Fenech, once capable of being the most reckless of fighters, spoke of the need for patience in the process of rebuilding Tszyu’s career after being recruited to his new-look team.
The Cuban Diaz, Fenech, Darcy Ellis and Mike Altamura replaced the long-serving manager Glenn Jennings and Igor Goloubev, Tszyu’s trainer and uncle. There regardless potentially exists an opportunity to seize if Tszyu fights and beats the 29-year-old Velazquez imminently. On January 31 the IBF champion Murtazaliev fights Josh Kelly and Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou seek to unify the WBA and WBO titles. A rematch with Murtazaliev, even as one of the world’s most avoided fighters, is unthinkable, but for any other champion – and it perhaps should not be overlooked that Tszyu and Velazquez are fighting at a catchweight of 157lbs – a winning Tszyu is a high-profile, popular challenger, and one against which, having seen him fallen, they would believe that they would win.
“At 154 there’s a heap of opportunity,” Rose said. “It’s the most stacked division in boxing. There’s a lot of big fights there for Tim Tszyu, and we wanted to get the win; he wanted to fight so he could get the win, because there’s no easy fights at 154 because it’s so deep. He has to be switched on; he has to be ready to go. When he gets that job done we’ll create some big fights for him in 2026.
“Tim’s ability – the fact that we’re able to draw the audience that we can. Tim fights in arenas and we’re able to fill ‘em up and we’re proud of the fact that we can go and put these shows on at short notice and have the impact we do.
“It’s where we are in [Australian] boxing at the moment – we’ve got really good talent coming through, and good talent on top, and I really think boxing’s in a great place.”
