Danny Green’s warning about the hidden danger for Tim Tszyu in Sebastian Fundora rematch

Tim Tszyu has been warned Sebastian Fundora poses an even more dangerous opponent ahead of their world title rematch.

He has promised another war, but Tim Tszyu has been warned his rematch with Sebastian Fundora won’t be as simple as picking up where he left off before his gruesome, fighting-changing cut.

Tszyu dominated the opening two rounds of their first fight in Las Vegas last year, before copping an elbow to the top of the head that opened a horrendous cut which poured blood into his eyes.

He fought the next 10 rounds with severely compromised vision, before losing a razor-thin split decision, with Fundora taking home the WBO and WBC world titles.

But Fundora didn’t get through the first few rounds unscathed.

The 197cm tall Californian showed incredible grit to battle through a broken nose and bad lacerations inside his mouth,

Aussie boxing icon Danny Green warns ‘The Soul Taker’ that Fundora’s own ruggedness shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Tszyu was able to dish out some damage. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In 2011, Green was seemingly en route to scoring a WBC cruiserweight world title win over Poland’s Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in Perth.

He was well ahead on the scorecards before Wlodarczyk broke his nose late in the fight and ended up knocking him out in the 11th.

“I’ve suffered badly broken noses in fights,” Green told Code Sports. “When I fought for the WBC cruiserweight world title, I was dominating the fight, and if my opponent hadn’t broken my nose in round nine, I daresay I would’ve been victorious.

“I was ahead on the scorecards when I got knocked out, but my engine slowed down because I couldn’t breathe.

“That broken nose and the cuts in the mouth, it would’ve made it really difficult.

“What that would’ve done to Fundora, it would’ve restricted his breathing, restricted his oxygen intake and limited his engine’s capacity.

“He couldn’t have the same output because he couldn’t breathe, so his challenges were equally as significant as Tim Tszyu’s not being able to see because of the blood.”

While many boxing insiders considered Fundora to have an asterisk next to his name after becoming a unified world champion in such incredible circumstances, the 27-year-old silenced any doubters with a fourth round title defence over Chordale Booker in March.

Fundora cemented his reputation as a legitimate world champion with a stoppage win over Chordale Booker. Picture: Steve Marcus/Getty Images

Tszyu is the betting favourite ahead of their rematch, but knows only too well how tough and how tough Fundora truly is.

“What Fundora had to go through as well, he had internal damage,” Tszyu told Code Sports. “I had artificial damage – I was completely blindsided.

“It’s a weird scenario. We both went through hell and back. We both faced our demons in that fight.

“That’s why people will be talking about it for a long time, what we both went through and the fact that it was that close.

“That’s the best thing about boxing.

“I’ll be telling him this time to keep his elbows down this time.”

If one judge had scored the 12th and final round in Tszyu’s favour, the fight would have been a split draw and he would have left Vegas a world champion.

With the cut and only having two weeks to prepare for the fight, it’s why Tszyu still doesn’t view the bloodbath defeat as a loss.

Tszyu putting the finishing touches on camp in Las Vegas. Picture: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions

“The decision could’ve gone either way, so – it’s weird – I came back and I didn’t feel like it was a loss,” he said. “This is a new chapter, a new beginning.

“I know Fundora is one hell of a fighter, one hell of a champion. The current king at 154.

“It’s my turn to reclaim the throne.

“I’ve had 10 weeks to prepare for his style, which is a blessing. Knowing you have two weeks to prepare for Fundora is quite hard.

“That’s no excuses, but I’m prepared. If you tell me tomorrow, we can go at it. It doesn’t bother me.

“I’m just going to chop him. Slowly. Just chop him from the legs up.”

Despite his warning, Green believes Tszyu will become a two-time world champion next weekend.

“I see Tim winning, he looked good in the first couple of rounds and was tagging Fundora nicely with the right hand,” he said.

“I think Tim will find a home for that right hand and I see Tim being victorious.”

Originally published as Danny Green’s warning about the hidden danger for Tim Tszyu in Sebastian Fundora rematch