First defeat in his career: Tim Tszyu lost to Fundora by split decision

At the end of March, Timofey Tszyu was about to take another big step towards achieving the status of a full-blown boxing star. On the penultimate day of the month, the Australian had to enter the ring for the first time at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with many thousands of people to fight with former world champion Keith Thurman. And even if, if successful, the current holder of the WBO junior middleweight belt did not even chalk up another defense, this victory could give a serious impetus to his career. However, two weeks before the show, everything went wrong.

Thurman was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a biceps injury, and he was replaced by the 197-centimeter giant Sebastian Fundora, whom Tszyu could have met last year. But then the American sensationally lost by knockout to Brian Mendoza, who subsequently failed to prevent Tim from gaining the WBO Super title. And although the Australian with Russian roots himself was hardly happy with such castling, the organizers liked it. They not only gave their fight title status, but also put the vacant WBC trophy on the line. And thus they raised the excitement around the already interesting fight to the limit.

And although the champion himself called the upcoming duel with Fundora “the first opportunity to achieve greatness,” at times one could get the impression that he was not very respectful of his future counterpart. A few days before the tournament, rumors appeared in the media about negotiations between Tszyu and Crawford about a head-to-head fight, and subsequently Tim himself commented on the desire of Errol Spence Jr. to measure his strength with the victor of the confrontation in Las Vegas. And all this against the background of receiving a record fee in the history of Australian sports in the amount of $10 million - almost one and a half times more than golfer Cameron Smith earned at the LIV Golf London tournament in 2023.

And although the time to prepare for an extremely uncomfortable opponent was limited, Tszyu began the meeting with Fundora very confidently. Despite the colossal difference in height of 23 centimeters, he dominated in the ring: he controlled the distance perfectly and hit him hard several times, breaking the American’s nose. It seemed that now it would completely come apart, but an accident occurred. A few seconds before the end of the second round, Timofey himself extremely recklessly went forward and crashed his head into Sebastian’s neatly placed elbow. And a huge cut appeared on his forehead.

As Tszyu himself later admitted, at that moment he was literally blind and could hardly discern what was happening in the ring because of the blood covering his face. And it was extremely difficult not to notice how shocked he was in the first minutes after the incident. At first he was so confused that he lost two segments in a row, and subsequently he no longer fought as confidently as in the debut.

An equal fight ensued, with the referees playing a key role. Neither fighter had a clear advantage, and either one or the other could be given preference. This was clearly illustrated by the cards of the judges, who agreed only on the winner of the seventh and tenth three-minute periods. They unanimously gave the first to Sebastian, the second to Tim.

Perhaps, if the cutman had been able to stop the bleeding, Tszyu would have had a much greater chance of winning, but all the attempts of the Australian corner were unsuccessful. The coach’s advice “not to think about the cut” didn’t help either, because the referee and doctor checking the boxer’s condition regularly reminded him of it, as well as Fundor’s jab hitting the same point.

As a result, the opinions of the jury representatives were divided. The first admired Tszyu’s courage and gave him eight rounds, while the second saw Fundora’s superiority, and with the same score. The final word went to the third judge, who also sided with the American - 112:116. 116:112, 115:113. Timofey suffered the first defeat in his career and not only missed the opportunity to win the WBC title, but also lost the WBO belt.

However, the history of the confrontation between Tszyu and Fundora is not over. As it became known at the end of the tournament, the contract for the fight provided for an immediate rematch. And as the Australian’s team told TASS, this option will be implemented. This means that Timofey will soon have an excellent chance to confirm his high class and prove that this defeat was only the result of a terrible coincidence of circumstances.