Former WBO super welterweight world champion Tim Tszyu\u2019s return has been announced.<\/p>\n
Tszyu (26-3, 18 KOs) will headline a No Limits promotion against Albanian contender Denis Nurja at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, Australia, on April 5.<\/p>\n
Nurja (20-0, 9 KOs) is largely an unknown quantity, residing in Italy. His last six fights have taken place in his native Albania, and he is ranked in 12th place by the WBA at 154 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel better than ever and I\u2019m ready to get back to work,\u201d said Tszyu via a press release. \u201cDenis Nurja is undefeated for a reason and he presents a real challenge. He\u2019s got a big amateur pedigree with eight national titles and he\u2019s fought at the world championships, so he\u2019s been in there with some serious fighters. That\u2019s the kind of opponent that motivates me and keeps me sharp. I\u2019m inspired, focused, and preparing for the toughest version of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old Australian had a short-lived spell as world champion when he was elevated to WBO champion ahead of his one and only title defense against Brian Mendoza in October 2023. Tszyu lost his title in a unification fight with WBC champion Sebastian Fundora six months later and fell to a third-round stoppage against IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev immediately after. Following a win over Joey Spencer, Tszyu would lose a rematch to Fundora, retiring on his stool in the seventh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some massive opportunities ahead but none of that matters unless I get through this fight,\u201d Tszyu added. \u201cMy full focus is on Easter Sunday and the job in front of me. I want to get back to the top of the division and fight for world titles again and this is the first step. I\u2019ve fought all around Australia but I haven\u2019t fought in Wollongong and it\u2019s somewhere I\u2019ve always wanted to fight. I know it\u2019s the territory of Sammy Goodman and Alex Volkanovski and there\u2019s a huge combat sports culture down there, so it\u2019s going to be a great atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bout is advertised as taking place at super welterweight. However, the WBO International middleweight title will be on the line. Tszyu is currently ranked in 3rd place by the WBO at middleweight, while also being ranked in 7th place by the WBC and 8th place by the IBF at super welterweight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am 20-0 for a reason and I did not build that record by playing it safe,\u201d said Nurja. \u201cThis is the biggest opportunity of my career and I am ready for it. People are talking about Tim\u2019s comeback, but I am the one standing in front of him. I respect what he has done in the sport but I believe this is my moment. I am coming to Australia to win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former WBO super welterweight world champion Tim Tszyu\u2019s return has been announced. Tszyu (26-3, 18 KOs) will headline…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-535510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}