- The 29-year-old lost his world title in a controversial decision
- He was severely cut by the elbow of the giant Sebastián Fundora
Tim Tszyu’s return to the ring has been put on ice with his world title fight against American Vergil Ortiz Jr canceled on medical advice.
Tszyu was scheduled to return to the United States to fight on a blockbuster card in Los Angeles on August 3 (local time) headlined by pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford.
The clash with unbeaten knockout specialist Ortiz was for the WBA interim super welterweight world title, with Tszyu preparing offshore and training with his legendary father Kostya in Thailand this month.
Tszyu (left) and Sebastian Fundora (right) were left covered in blood after the Australian suffered a sickening head injury in their world title fight in March.
The Australian lost his title in a controversial split decision, with a judge scoring it in his favor as he beat Fundora so brutally that he required facial surgery.
But Tszyu has been advised to stay out of the ring to give his head injury more time to heal after suffering one of the bloodiest cuts in recent memory against American Sebastian Fundora at the end of March.
The Australian dropped his WBO super welterweight belt to Fundora in a controversial split decision loss in Las Vegas.
Tszyu collided with Towering Inferno’s elbow late in the second round and suffered a gruesome cut to his head.
The Australian fought without full vision for 10 rounds and was even awarded a 116-112 victory by one of the judges.
Tszyu had been training hard in Thailand with his legendary father Kostya (pictured together) before receiving the news that his fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr had been cancelled.
The Californian is also out of the ring until at least September after undergoing facial surgery due to damage he suffered in the fight.
No Limit chief executive George Rose said Tszyu was angry about the latest setback.
“We are very disappointed by the setback and Tim is extremely frustrated after a great precamp with Kostya,” Rose said in a statement Friday.
“He showed everyone that he will fight anything against Fundora, but to be honest, this decision got out of hand.”
“In the end, it was his body and the medical professionals that told him he wasn’t ready yet.”
The WBO has sanctioned the Crawford-Israil Madrimov fight as an interim title fight, and the winner will be next in line to face Fundora.
Fundora’s management said they would honor a verbal rematch agreement before the WBO stepped in to put that on the back burner.
