Former WBO Junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu desperately needs a win on April 6th against Joey Spencer in a fight on Kayo Sports in Australia and Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
A Must-Win Fight
If he has anything, Spencer (19-1, 11 KOs) is a winnable fight for Tszyu. A loss to this guy pretty much signals Tim’s end as a major player. He can still hang around, obviously, but it wouldn’t be like before.
Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) has lost his last two fights and has been winless since 2023. IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev destroyed him in three rounds on October 19th. Before that, Tim lost his WBO 154-lb title to Sebastian Fundora by a 12-round split decision last year on March 30th. That defeat may have taken more out of Tszyu than anyone may have realized because he looked like a shell of himself in his fight against Bakhram.
Tszyu needs to adapt if things are going bad against Spencer because he failed to do that against Murtazaliev. There were no adjustments at all by Tim after he was dropped three times in round two. He just kept plodding forward, throwing power, and getting knocked down.
“This is my redemption tour. I’m coming back stronger, hungrier, and ready to prove a point. There’s no easing back in—no tune-up fights—just straight into the fire with a very, very good fighter in Joey Spencer,” said Tszyu. “He’s a real fighter, a dangerous opponent, and exactly the kind of challenge I crave.”
Tim is being a little disingenuous here because Spencer IS a tune-up but of a high-level one. He’s a fringe contender who stepped up in class once in his career and was destroyed in seven rounds by Jesus Ramos on March 25, 2023.
“We chose the deep end. No safety nets, no warm-ups. Sink or swim—I’m here to make a statement. If I have to walk through fire to get back on top, so be it. This is what I live for,” said Tszyu.
Last Updated on 02/24/2025