Tim Tszyu designated WBO No. 1 at junior middleweight

In the wake of the ratings shift necessary to accommodate former champion Xander Zayas losing his unified belts to Jaron “Boots” Ennis last weekend, the World Boxing Organization has elected to elevate former champion Tim Tszyu to the No. 1 contender position in this month’s new  junior middleweight rankings.

31-year-old Tszyu, 27-3 (18 KOs), is set to face 36-year-old former unified world champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jnr, 28-1 (22 KOs), on Saturday, July 25, in the main event of a PBC Pay-Per-View broadcast, live on Prime Video from Afterpay Arena in Tszyu’s hometown of Sydney, Australia.

Spence is not presently rated by the WBO. 

Appearing destined for stardom, Tszyu surprisingly lost his WBO title in a blood-soaked March 2024 split decision loss to Sebastian Fundora.

Since then, Tszyu has notched three victories (a fourth-round stoppage over Joey Spencer in April 2025, a December 2025 unanimous decision over Anthony Velazquez and an April 2026 shutout unanimous 10-round decision over {then} 20-0 Denis Nurja).

As for losses, Tszyu was down three times in round two and once in round three in a knockout loss to then-IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev in October 2024 and suffered a July 2025 loss in the rematch to Fundora, this time in a one-sided fashion. Tszyu indicated he’d had enough after the seventh round.

Tszyu’s ascension, he was formerly ranked WBO No. 3, displaces former No. 1-ranked Brandon Adams, who's been mostly inactive for the past few years.

Former champion Xander Zayas is now rated No. 3.