Tim Tszyu is eyeing a return home battle for Australia if he gets past Bakhram Murtazaliev
It is reported that Tim Tszyu is eyeing a fight in December when he defeats the holder of the IBF junior middleweight belt, Bakhram Murtazaliev, when they meet on October 19 at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Fla.
According to News Corp, the 29-year-old from Sydney, Australia is determined to make a comeback this year after spending months on the sidelines recovering from a nasty cut to his skin from his split decision loss to Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas. in March.
There are several names on the shortlist but it is understood that Erickson Lubin is the frontrunner, if the 28-year-old American southpaw can be convinced to fly to Australia. Lubin (26-2, 18 KOs) is The Ring’s No.7 contender at 154 pounds.
“It is important that I stay in touch with the Aussie fans because they are the ones who put me in this position,” said Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) to the media yesterday..
“When I fight, I feel like I have the whole world behind me, so it’s nice.
“Yes, I would like to fight back in Australia for the fans, it means a lot. We are a small island, abandoned by the whole world. I mean to LA, it’s a 15 hour flight.
“But we have some skills over there (in Australia). Lots of fighters. We have this stigma that Aussies are tough bastards who just fight, but we like to have a crack and we know what we’re doing.
“It’s great to be on top of that with other Aussie fighters.”
Tszyu plans to make a statement against Russia’s Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs), who will be making his first defense of the IBF belt he won against Jack Culcay in Germany last April. In that fight, the 31-year-old came out late in the fight, knocking out the local boy in the penalty round.
Tszyu vowed to end his 10-year unbeaten streak.
“I bring the heat,” said Tszyu, The Ring’s No.5 contender. “I hope he won’t back down, because everyone knows my style.
“You will see poor performance. The level will be ruthless and something that scares people and shocks my opponent.”
In his Las Vegas debut against Fundora, Tszyu caught a flying elbow to the top of his head at the end of the second round that caused a large gash in his head. The wound continued to bleed so much that he was forced to fight with a blood mask.
Tszyu fought valiantly in that situation, eventually dropping a 116-112, 113-115 and 112-116 decision. The loss cost him the WBO belt and the chance to claim the vacant WBC bauble.
At the time Tszyu’s corner was criticized for not stopping the fight in the first four rounds, but the fiery Aussie says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Losing is not in my blood,” said Tszyu. “I prefer to die in the ring, that’s the mindset I have. Losing the belt, it feels like you have to go back to the drawing board.
“There is no fear in me. Whoever they call ‘bad’ in this section, give it to me, feed it to me.
“He (Murtazaliev) has a dog with him and that brings a lot of work.
“But nothing should be easy when you are on your way to the top.” There is no easy fight. If you want the big ones, you have to go through the fire and right now, I’m going to go through the fire.
“I want to be a fighter and fight big fights and do that with the belts.”
