Tim Tszyu’s opponent confirmed after early chaos

Tim Tszyu has had the rug pulled from underneath him with the Australian suffering a hammer blow in Las Vegas.

Tim Tszyu. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.

Tim Tszyu’s blockbuster fight with Keith Thurman has fallen apart.

The American fighter has been forced to withdraw 12 days before the fight after suffering a biceps injury during a training session.

Thurman is reported to have seen a doctor before making the decision to scrap the fight.

The decision has left Tszyu reeling with his fight suddenly lacking star power to capture the attention of an American audience.

BOXING: Tszyu v Thurman & Zerafa v Lara live from Las Vegas | WED 31 MAR 11AM AEDT | Exclusive to Main Event, order on Kayo Sports. No Kayo subscription needed.

Boxing promoter No Limit on Tuesday confirmed reports Tszyu will defend his WBO junior middleweight world title against Sebastian Fundora at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 31 (AEDT).

The vacant WBC world title belt will also be on the line.

Fundora was already booked on the undercard of the event and was scheduled to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC belt.

Fundora’s most recent professional fight was a KO loss to Brian Mendoza in April, 2023.

The event has been left in disarray with the Tszyu-Thurman bout expected to be a major launching pad for streaming service PrimeVideo entering the pay-per-view boxing market in the United States.

While the fight has immense interest from Tszyu’s army of Aussie fans, he is yet to capture the attention of American boxing fans.

Tim Tszyu remains one of the best showmen in boxing. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.

Boxing guru Dan Rafael said on Tuesday morning the Tszyu-Fundora fight was “not good enough” to be a PPV event for an American audience.

“It’ll be hard to find suitable replacement to headline a PPV, especially as it’s the first ever with Prime,” Rafael posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Undercard is good but not good enough as a $75. Bad situation for all involved: fighters, fans, PBC, TGB, Prime, T-Mobile.”

Thurman has been out of the ring for almost two years and his return as a former unified welterweight world champion was a box office event.

Back in 2015, Thurman’s rise to the top of the welterweight division saw him become one of the biggest names in the sport.

Keith Thurman. Picture: Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images.

After beating Robert Guerrero for the WBA strap, he then had three more big wins against Luis Collazo, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia.

Tszyu, 29, earlier this month staged a stunt when he crashed a Thurman live stream video to further promote their expected fight.

Tszyu and Thurman were going to fight at a catchweight of 155lbs with Tszyu’s belt not officially on the line because Thurman was not ranked inside the WBO’s top 15 as a result of his time away from the ring.

Thurman was just days ago holding interviews to promote the fight and told News Corp last week he would knock Tszyu out cold.

The 35-year-old even said he was worried about the judges favouring Tszyu because of his the Aussie’s status as a star on the rise.

“Tim Tszyu is the undefeated champion,” Thurman said. “Are the judges, out of habit, going to look at it like Keith Thurman needs to beat the champion?

“That’s the question you’re bringing up, and Tszyu is the undefeated champion.

“So, all close rounds go to Tszyu. All marginal rounds go to Tszyu. They’re not gonna go to Thurman.

“This is just something we have to deal with sometimes in boxing.

The Main Event card also features WBA Super Lightweight World Champion Rolando Romero taking on Mexican star Isaac Cruz in the co-main event, plus WBA Middleweight World Champion Erislandy Lara duels Australia’s Michael Zerafa.

Originally published as Tim Tszyu’s opponent confirmed after early chaos