![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, Fenech has also opened up on the \u201clong conversation\u201d he\u2019s has had with \u2018The Phoenix\u2019 as he readies for Sunday\u2019s headliner against an undefeated Denis Nurja.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the Australian fight great also offered a polite \u201cno comment\u201d when asked about Tszyu\u2019s new Cuban coach Pedro Diaz, stressing he wants only positivity around a fighter \u201cwho when properly prepared can beat anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, it was confirmed Tszyu\u2019s promoters No Limit have already agreed to terms on a huge bout with US superstar Spence.<\/p>\n
Yet in a bid to get himself ready for the challenge, Australia\u2019s longtime pay-per-view king has chosen to first roll the dice with a \u2018warm up\u2019 bout against Nurja, a world ranked Albanian who is undefeated in 20 appearances.<\/p>\n
And in a further fight week twist, Fenech has also now confirmed himself in possession of tickets for the Wollongong Entertainment Centre card — which also includes the likes of Sam Goodman, Callum Peters, and new Australian crossover sensation, Nelson Asofa-Solomona. <\/p>\n
Speaking recently, Tszyu stressed he wants Fenech to be ringside on fight night.<\/p>\n
It follows the Aussie boxing great\u2019s shock decision back in December to boycott Tszyu\u2019s first fight under a new team including Diaz \u2013 a man who has been involved with 20 world champions and as many Olympic medallists.<\/p>\n
Tim Tszyu pictured with Jeff Fenech at Jeff\u2019s home in Five Dock in September last year. Picture: Rohan KellySource: The Daily Telegraph<\/p>\n
At the time, Fenech said the decision was due not only to how Tszyu was being trained, but after also having been given \u201czero input\u201d into the preparations \u2013 and despite having initially been touted as a team consultant.<\/p>\n
Yet when asked this week about attending Tszyu\u2019s Easter Sunday bout, Fenech replied: \u201cYes, I\u2019ve got tickets \u2026 and I\u2019ll more than likely be there\u201d.<\/p>\n
The four-time world champ quickly added, however, that he was not looking to be part of the corner, and wouldn\u2019t enter Tszyu\u2019s dressing room before the fight.<\/p>\n
While plenty of Australian fight fans have urged for Fenech to become more hands on with Tszyu, the 61-year-old said his attendance on Sunday will be as a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t go in the rooms, no,\u201d he stressed. \u201cI don\u2019t want to give the wrong vibes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Tim\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd with the right preparation I think he can beat anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve said about his trainer, that\u2019s my opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what I\u2019ve said, and you\u2019ve also seen the pair of them working together.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as Tim\u2019s friend, I don\u2019t want any negativity around this fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I really do think the guy [Diaz] is doing everything he can to make Tim Tszyu better.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I really hope he can \u2013 that\u2019s my message.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fundora STOPS Thurman after ‘Beating!’ | 00:58<\/p>\n
Fenech said his only real concern was the decision by Team Tszyu to have already agreed to terms on a Spence fight in either July or August \u2013 with Las Vegas the clubhouse leader to play host.<\/p>\n
While Tszyu is a $1.13 favourite with bookies for Sunday\u2019s showdown \u2013 and Nurja wound out to almost seven bucks \u2013 Fenech warned that nothing good ever comes from talking about what\u2019s coming with a win not yet earned.<\/p>\n
Fenech added that while not putting Nurja in the same league as Murtazaliev, he would still be ensuring Tszyu look no further than the Wollongong bout, and has told the fighter as much this week. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already had a long talk to Tim,\u201d Fenech said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd why I\u2019ve said to him, \u2018let\u2019s just get this job done\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause right now, there isn\u2019t anything that\u2019s next for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Tim doesn\u2019t win, there is no Errol Spence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I wouldn\u2019t be talking about Errol Spence, why I wouldn\u2019t be signing contracts or making agreements, nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou say, of course a $15 million fight sounds great.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s not my focus right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message is, just let him win this f***ing fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thurman furious at referee call | 02:07<\/p>\n
While he may be a betting longshot, Albania\u2019s Nurja is still on an unbeaten run of 20 straight wins.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old also arrives Down Under having already fought in six different countries as a professional, and is also ranked at No.12 with the WBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is why it\u2019s so important Tim stays focused on the right things,\u201d Fenech stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause while a fighter can tell you they\u2019re focused, it becomes really difficult with so many outside rumblings.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I don\u2019t care who you are, when you\u2019re hearing different things, when you\u2019re being asked to sign off on different things \u2026 it can all be problematic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can still remember back to before Tim\u2019s fight with Bakhram Murtazaliev in Florida, when he and Keith Thurman run into each other prior to the weigh-ins and started talking about making a fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo let Tim be there arguing with Thurman, it was f***ing stupid.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see [on fight night] too, that Tim hadn\u2019t been told what to be careful of with Murtazaliev.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis team thought he was going to kill that guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMurtazaliev wasn\u2019t given respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people around Tim said he was invincible, didn\u2019t give him the right preparation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody told him, \u2018you make mistakes against this guy, you suffer\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he suffered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is why there\u2019s only one person Tim needs to be focused on, and that\u2019s the guy he\u2019s fighting this Sunday.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeff Fenech has declared his Tim Tszyu boycott over \u2013 albeit with a key dressing room caveat. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-574883","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\/574883","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=574883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}