The intrigue surrounding former world champions Tim Tszyu and Errol Spence Jnr as they move toward a potential junior-middleweight summer showdown centers on one question: Who can best overcome the damage of their previous losses?
Whether the 36-year-old Spence has truly recovered from his destructive beating at the hands of five-division champion Terence Crawford nearly three years ago remains unclear.
Spence has kept his “recovery” secretive, declining a BoxingScene interview request through his Premier Boxing Champions publicist last week while training with veteran cornerman Ronnie Shields in recent weeks.
Australia’s candid Tszyu, meanwhile, has revealed far more by winning two tune-up bouts since a rugged stretch of getting markedly roughed up in three 154lbs title fights over a 16-month period in 2024 and 2025.
“I’ve got this relentless fire now, burning deep within me, so I really want it,” Tszyu told BoxingScene in an exclusive interview on the eve of updated Spence negotiations that are set to push toward a conclusion this week.
When asked what’s driving his desire, Tszyu said, “Just probably because of the redemption story of where I’ve been and what I’ve had to overcome to get where I want to get to.
“This is the fight to get me back to where I want to get to.”
Although one connected official told a U.S.-based BoxingScene reporter to “pack your bags” for the Tszyu-Spence bout to occur in Australia, Tszyu reacted with surprise to that news and said he’d be up for traveling to Spence’s home of Dallas for the fight if necessary.
“One hundred percent. It doesn’t bother me a bit,” Tszyu said. “I’ve always wanted to fight all over the world. The place and location doesn’t bother me. I’m keen.”
The son of former undisputed 140lbs champion Kostya Tszyu, 31-year-old Tim Tszyu 27-3 (18KOs) on April 4 recorded a knockdown and cruised to a wide, unanimous-decision triumph in Australia over Italy’s Denis Nurja (120-108 on all three scorecards) following another wide decision victory in December over Anthony Velasquez.
“I’m ready to move on and get to the next one,” Tszyu said of the Nurja bout. “Nothing too heavy, which I’m glad about.”
Tszyu suffered a facial cut under an eye during the fight that required six stitches to close. He got them removed this weekend after already posting a training run with the stitches in place with no repercussions.
Tszyu said he should be cleared to spar in about two weeks. By then, he expects to know when and where the Spence bout will occur.
Knowing the Spence bout is imminent, Tszyu sought out the Nurja bout as he switched up members of his team and retained Cuban trainer Pedro Diaz to tweak his fighting style.
Some observers said they didn’t notice a change as Tszyu threw punches freely and reverted to prior strengths by out-willing and out-working his opponent.
“It’s hard to completely change your style from one way to another. There are things I feel like are at the top of what I’m good at, and still things I want to improve,” Tszyu said. “It is what it is. We move on, we go to the next.
“I went at him in spurts. Sometimes, I was in cruise control. Sometimes, I put it on him. The guy was tough, man. There’s a lot of people who would’ve been in his position and tapped out. There were a couple of real survival moments for him. I hurt him a couple times. Big respect for him. He’s a tough guy, and he did what it took to survive.”
Tszyu knows both survival and when to set things aside for another day.
In the first Premier Boxing Champions main event on Prime Video, Tszyu sustained a vicious head cut from an early accidental elbow delivered by current WBC 154lbs champion Sebastian Fundora.
Instead of scrapping the historic bout, the badly bloodied Tszyu fought on and was edged on the scorecards. He fought as if he was haunted by the wound in his next bout, against IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, and was badly beaten in a third-round knockout.
Those two outcomes provoked the question: Is the obstacle to a brutal defeat more physically taxing or mentally haunting?
“I think a bit of both,” he said. “Sometimes, you’re physically damaged and need to let your body and head rest. Other times, mentally, there is scarring. Right now, I feel all those lessons I’ve learned … I used to be afraid of losing … now that that’s gone, it’s a whole different mindset and a whole different feeling heading into fights. Everything you learn is a lesson.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is you’ve got to focus on making yourself happy. The main thing is I’ve got to do myself proud and make myself happy and put it all on the line every time I do it. Keep getting big fights. Keep working for a big challenge. I’ve learned that’s the key for me.”
Losing a bloody decision to the 6-foot-6 Fundora prompted a sober reflection.
“I’ve lost to the elite. And stylistically, some of the styles were just a pain in the ass,” Tszyu confided. “And that’s all that it was. Look, you just saw Fundora versus [former unified welterweight champion Keith] Thurman.
“Thurman, back in the day, was beating everyone up. He was the man. He couldn’t do anything against Fundora. Everything’s about who’s put in front of you, and, unfortunately with certain styles, I just couldn’t adapt or get the victory. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other styles that I can take out and completely obliterate.”
He likes the Spence matchup.
“It’s a come-toward style. I don’t have to go looking for it,” Tszyu said. “He’s going to try to come looking for victory, so whenever you’ve got someone like that, trying to win it, it’s going to open opportunities to land certain shots.”
Since so many others are wondering what Spence has left after getting knocked down three times by Crawford and stopped in the ninth round – back-to-back trainer of the year Robert Garcia speculated the Texan has “nothing” remaining after eschewing a tune-up bout – Tszyu was asked, as well.
“To a certain extent, those questions are real, but I think Errol Spence will still be Errol Spence,” Tszyu said. “I don’t think he’s washed.
“But who knows? Six years ago, this would’ve been a different Errol Spence. He’s 36 now, has gone through some big, tough fights. It’s all about if he’s got that drive or not. That’s the interesting thing about this sport. Sometimes, what’s in the heart – how bad do you want it? – is what gets people the victory.”
It makes for one of the most dramatic encounters of the year.
“I’m excited, because, in terms of timing, I believe this is the right time for Errol Spence,” Tszyu said. “He’s sort of fought everyone from his era. I know it was a different time. But over time, we are improving as human beings. We are getting better genetically, physically, technically, so his best accomplishments are in the past, but he wants to have a go at this generation, and this is what’s so exciting about this: ‘Does he still have it?’ ‘Does he no longer have it?’
“There are so many questions to be answered.”
