Tim Tszyu is under serious pressure to put on a dominant performance against Denis Nurja to ensure a showdown with Errol Spence remains lucrative enough to sell.
That’s the view of former two-weight world champion Pauli Malignaggi, who also wonders whether Nurja will get a fair showing with the judges this weekend.
Malignaggi is in Sydney to work on the broadcast for the Easter Sunday fight, which he calls a potential “banana skin” bout as Tszyu eyes up a multimillion dollar blockbuster with Spence later in the year.
With so much riding on the outcome, the American has raised the question of whether unbeaten Albanian Nurja will receive fair officiating.
“You’ve gotta think about, if Nurja does get the job done, does he get the decision here?” Malignaggi told Code Sports.
“Can he get a decision here?
“When you have something big on the horizon, typically, that’s something that plays as well.”
Malignaggi has already seen first hand how wild Aussie boxing can be this year.
The former super-lightweight and welterweight world champion was ringside for the crazy aftermath of Nikita Tszyu’s controversial no contest with Michael Zerafa, when cans and cups of beers were thrown towards the ring in Brisbane in January.
After landing in Sydney on Tuesday, Malignaggi spoke about how the Tszyu-Nurja is viewed in the US.
“From an American perspective, they want to see Tim perform well, so that the Spence fight is more attractive and more sellable,” he said. “You need Tim to look sharp and to give the American audience something to gravitate towards.”
That becomes even more vital considering Spence hasn’t fought in three years, since a one-sided defeat to Terence Crawford in 2023.
“We don’t know what this version of Spence is,” Malignaggi said. “This guy never fights.
“He’s never active. He’s been through the ringer inside and outside the ring too.
“He’s had retinas issues, bad car accidents and a bad beating against Crawford.
“We don’t know what Spence we’re getting because the lay-off is so long.
“The name still brings curiosity though, and I think Tim is approaching it right.”
Malignaggi, who had two world title wins over Sydney’s Lovemore Ndou, called this weekend’s fight a big risk for Tszyu.
“Nurja is undefeated and he feels he’s on the verge of achieving what his dreams have always been,” he said. “He’ll finally have a big name on his resume, and if he beats this guy, he’s in a position to put himself in the mix.
“He’s won every fight he’s had, but he’s still hungry. And those guys are tough to beat, because they’re willing to go through a little more to maintain that unbeaten record.
“You’ll get the best version of Nujra, and this is a banana skin type fight for Tim Tszyu.
“In saying that, he’s never been under this kind of pressure, and it’s the kind of fight that Tim understands.
“He’s been here, he knows the magnitude and the energy and Nurja hasn’t.”