Tim Tszyu’s team has been urged to “pull the trigger” on an all-Australian showdown with longtime rival Michael Zerafa – while US fans and analysts have also clapped back at the “bulls***” engulfing Australia’s star.
Exactly 20 years after Kostya Tszyu retired on the stool in what would eventually prove to be his last fight, eldest son Tim has now endured the same in a devastatingly brutal loss against WBC world champion Sebastian Fundora.
Yet despite Tszyu’s corner calling the Las Vegas showcase off after seven rounds, his promoters insist the 30-year-old will not only be back – but eventually fighting again to become a two-time world champion.
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Following his loss here inside the MGM Grand at the weekend, a series of questions have been asked about Tszyu’s future in the sport.
While the fighter has not yet spoken with media, his team stressed the Australian is fine and only spent a short time receiving precautionary checks at a Las Vegas hospital.
Below, Fox Sports Australia breaks down what is next for the boxing star.
Tszyu v Fundora 2: Full Fight Highlights | 09:21
WILL TSZYU RETIRE?
Unlikely, although the debate is understandable.
Especially given not only how badly Tszyu got touched up in this one, but the obvious comparisons with his famed father Kostya, who also retired on the stool against Ricky Hatton 20 years ago — then never fought again.
Tszyu, however, is still only 30 – or six years younger than Kostya that night in the UK — and there is undeniably time for another world title run in either the stacked super welterweight division, or even up at middleweight.
Importantly in the world of prize fighting, there is also good money to be made.
While Tszyu’s fighting career has undeniably taken a hit, you don’t simply lose overnight the shine that comes with being Australian boxing’s most recognised, watched, Googled, all of it.
In fact, Tszyu was undeniably the more popular fighter inside MGM Grand Garden Arena during Sunday’s fight with the crowd, particularly in the seventh, going crazy whenever he landed big on Fundora.
Tszyu sent to hospital after brutal loss | 05:26
While Kostya Tszyu may have been dubbed ‘The Mexecutioner’, his son’s fight style has developed a large cult following here Stateside among Mexican fans, who were plentiful inside the MGM.
But there is no doubting questions now hang heavy on The Soul Taker, with US boxing scribe Dan Rafael admitting his career “has to be in doubt” while US promoter Rick Glaser is also urging retirement.
As a result, Tszyu’s promoter George Rose was asked by Fox Sports Australia in the hours after the fight if there was a chance we may never see his superstar client step into a boxing ring again?
“No, I know Tim Tszyu can fight,” Rose said. “And I know the guys sitting at the top of the division, he can beat them.
“I do think Tim is still elite, and can beat most of the guys in the division on his day.
“But, you know, it’s boxing.
“We’ve got to take our time now and see where everything lands.
“If Tim Tszyu wants to be a world champion again, my job is to take him to that world title.”
WHERE DOES TSZYU GO FROM HERE?
Our pick would be Michael Zerafa.
In fact, a move to middleweight more generally could prove a strong option, given promoters No Limit have several world-ranked opponents including Zerafa, Mateo Tapia, even Venezuela’s Endry Saavedra.
Another No Limit fighter is New Zealand middleweight Andrei Mikhailovich, while Billy Dib’s big punching Sydney charge Mounir Fathi could also make for an entertaining fight.
Main Event’s Ben Damon agrees Zerafa is the best option, saying the time has come to “pull the trigger” on what would be a huge all-Australian showdown with the man who famously walked out on their 2021 headliner.
Apart from the pair sharing a longstanding rivalry, ‘Pretty Boy’ is also the No.8 WBA middleweight and, given Tszyu’s run of outs, suddenly emerges as a real live dog in any lucrative domestic showdown.
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Fundora’s post-fight praise to Tszyu | 02:10
While Zerafa is currently slated to fight on the undercard of Nikita Tszyu’s August comeback, and then challenge The Butcher in December should they both win, he has already told Fox Sports Australia those contracts must now be shredded – with a fight between himself and Tim Tszyu made.
Damon agrees.
“This is the fight everyone in Australia has wanted to see,” the Main Event commentator said from Las Vegas.
“For years now there has been various reasons for it not to happen.
“But it doesn’t look like there are any impediments to making it anymore.
“So as long as Michael Zerafa is up for it – and assuming Tim Tszyu is keen to continue and press toward the top again – there is no time like the present.
“I think it’s time to pull the trigger on this fight.”
WAS THIS A CASE OF ‘NO MAS’…?
Every boxing fan knows that legendary yarn about Roberto Durán famously calling things off in the eighth round of his rematch against Sugar Ray Leonard.
“No más,” Durán is alleged to have said to the referee.
No more.
But what happened to Tszyu Saturday night in Las Vegas, it ain’t that.
While Tszyu was retired on his stool before the eighth round, his team has repeatedly stressed it was them made the decision – with suggestions head coach Igor Goloubev called it after a brief conversation in Russian with his nephew.
After being widely criticised for allowing Tszyu to fight on after suffering a serious head cut in the first Fundora fight – undeniably now, a huge sliding doors moment – Goloubev’s decision was the right one.
Understanding that while the seventh may have been Tszyu’s best of the night, it also finished with him again in the corner being pummelled by a barrage of blows from The Towering Inferno.
Put simply, Tszyu was out of both gas and answers.
The Australian’s incredible show of class during an in ring interview afterwards, also went some way to hiding the fact that he still required an immediate transfer to a Las Vegas hospital for scans.
‘IT’S OVER?!’ Tszyu corner stops fight | 02:12
Indeed, if anything, the real question following this loss is not questioning Tszyu, but rather what impact his incredible courage shown in previous title wars against both Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev have had.
In both fights, Tszyu displayed a grit that has won him widespread appeal.
Yet speaking this week, US sports writer Rafael suggested Tszyu had lost a piece of himself in the Murtazaliev battering, with Fundora also suggesting their first loss had given the Australian PTSD.
Regardless, on both occasions the heart of Tszyu couldn’t be questioned, just as he seemed, more than anything else in this latest loss, unable to find answers to Fundora’s onslaught.
Importantly, the stoppage has also given Tszyu the opportunity to now rebuild from a position that may not have been available had the fight been allowed to continue.
WHAT CHANGES ARE REQUIRED?
When Tszyu landed that banging overhand right in the seventh – thwack — it sent such a large blood clump flying from Fundora’s mouth that, on press row, somebody asked if maybe it had been a tooth?
And just for the briefest moment, The Soul Taker seemed in with a shot.
But as had been the case a round earlier, when Tszyu also enjoyed some brief success, Fundora quickly, and brutally, responded.
Undeniably, Tszyu’s ongoing defensive issues were exposed by an awkward rival who boxed exactly as you’d expect as the world’s tallest champion.
Using his famed 203cm reach, Fundora peppered Tszyu with jabs, while also mixing in accurate straight lefts – including that shot which dropped the challenger in round one.
“Was he ready?”: Tim forced to ‘rebuild’ | 13:20
Concerningly too, it seemed a moment from which Tszyu never truly recovered, and even despite finding his greatest success through rounds six and seven, where he landed left hooks and that big right hand.
Rather than working to the strength’s that brought success against the likes of Tony Harrison, Jeff Horn and Joey Spencer, Tszyu seemed to be searching for a home run hit which never came.
Against Horn in 2020, one of his greatest wins, Tszyu set everything up with his left hand, while also going to the body with the same.
Against Fundora however, he landed only four jabs.
Tszyu’s decision to camp in the corner several times, looking to bring Fundora onto shots, also failed to work, and it was effectively where the fight was finished at the end of the seventh.
WHAT DOES THE TURKI TWEET MEAN?
When it comes to fallout from the Tszyu loss, it doesn’t come much bigger than having one of boxing’s most powerful men – Saudi billionaire Turki Al-Sheikh – bringing out the proverbial big stick on social media.
Taking to X with a post he then deleted soon after, the heavyweight promoter wrote: “I said to you from the beginning, Tim Tszyu does not deserve to be on a Riyadh Season or Ring Magazine card.
“He can be useful as a sparring partner for a champion in Riyadh season”.
Apart from not being the first shot Al-Sheikh has taken at Tszyu, it also received widespread blowback on social media — with countless fans and analysts jumping to Tszyu’s defence, including popular US broadcaster Brian Campbell.
“Absolutely classless tweet from Turki regarding Tszyu,” he wrote. “There is no place in boxing for that kind of bulls***”.
Tszyu has been off with Al-Sheikh for a year, having opted out of a planned fight with hyped Riyadh season showdown with American Vergil Ortiz Jnr due to ongoing complications surrounding the Fundora head cut.
Most immediately, the fighter will return home and, should he continue, rebuild with domestic fights and a promoter in No Limit who have already got him a host of big opportunities.
The Rose boys also retain a strong relationship with US promotors, PBC.
THE SMOKEY OPPONENT…
When it comes to Tszyu’s quickest path back to world boxing’s biggest fights, the best answer could be a Venezuelan who, while living and training in Mexico, may just be the craziest story in Aussie sport.
Only last year, Endry Saavedra was flown Down Under by No Limit to challenge their popular middleweight contender Issac Hardman for the WBO intercontinental strap.
As part of the deal for Saavedra, who had never fought outside Mexico, and never been on any shows of note, a win would then see him promoted by the Rose boys for his next fight.
NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 06: Endry Saavedra of Venezuela punches Mikkel Nielsen of Denmark during the WBO International Middleweight Title bout between Endry Saavedra and Mikkel Nielsenat Newcastle Entertainment Centre on April 06, 2025 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
And guess what?
Not only did the Venezuelan win – and via TKO — he then doubled down by securing a draw against fellow No Limit prospect Mateo Tapia later that year, and on the undercard of Tszyu’s US title loss to Murtazaliev.
Since then, the 34-year-old has won again, against Denmark’s Mikkel Nielsen, and is now the WBO’s No.2 ranked middleweight.
All of which means that while the fighter is the most unlikely client on the Rose boys’ roster, he suddenly shapes as a genuine opponent for the man who has always been their biggest star.
WHEN WILL TSZYU BE BACK?
No matter where Tszyu decides to take his career, it would be hard to see him fighting before, say, the first third of 2026.
The team is remaining tight-lipped about his immediate plans, although there is some talk of him spending a few days in Los Angeles with family before eventually flying home.
Rose stressed, however, that he couldn’t see his charge staying out of the sport for long stressing: “Tim Tszyu likes being busy.
“He doesn’t want to stay in this sport until he’s 46.
“He wants to be in, do what he can, earn what he can, then go live a long happy life.”