Australia's Tim Tszyu has declared he could move straight into a world title fight against either Terence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr next, confident that both superstars will retain the super welterweight belts within the next few months.
The Australian also claims that rising boxing star Turki Al-Sheikh could make either bout possible, stressing that “he knows what kind of guy he's up against.”
“I'm not sure what to do,” said Tsushu, speaking for the first time since his own title fight against American phenom Vergil Ortiz Jr. was cancelled. Fox Sports Australia He will return to sparring in “early June” and will likely be ready to compete in the final third of the year.
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The Sydney native made it clear there was no guarantee he'd fight Ortiz next, and even hinted at a direct matchup with the likes of Crawford, Spence or even long-time rival Jermell Charlo.
Tsiu added that he has already heard rumours that he would face the winner of a proposed fight between Spence and Sebastian Fundora, the man who beat Tsiu for the WBO and WBC super welterweight titles in March.
If that's the route his promoters, No Limit, take, Tsiu would like to fight at least two more bouts before a championship showdown, with possible opponents including former super welterweight champion Charlo and Erickson Lubin, who were originally scheduled to fight him this year before negotiations fell through.
The news adds to a rollercoaster year for “The Soul Taker,” who was scheduled to face Ortiz Jr. at a major August event in Los Angeles headlined by Crawford and WBA super welterweight champion Israil Madrimov.
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However, two weeks ago the Australian was surprisingly pulled from the match on doctor's advice.
Tsuchiura confirmed initial reports on Thursday that he was forced to withdraw because he had not yet recovered from a severe head injury he suffered in his March bout with Fandora – which left him virtually blind for 30 minutes – and was unable to resume sparring.
He added that the medical team was concerned about the risk of the injury continuing if he were to return on the scheduled schedule.
The shock withdrawal also comes just days after the Australian announced he had a two-week training camp in Thailand, half of which he spent training with his Hall of Fame father Kostya, in preparation for the bout against Ortiz Jr., who has won all 21 of his previous fights by knockout.
Despite the setback, Tsiu maintains he could move straight into a title fight against one of the sport's biggest names next, depending on how the division develops over the next few months.
“I'm not losing the fight against Fandora so I can definitely return to a world title fight straight away,” he stressed, referring to his eventual split decision loss despite fighting through 10 rounds heavily affected by his now infamous head injury.
“The whole world knows it.
“I wasn't hit.
“Even though Fandora won, I was still hurting him.
“Did you see his face after the fight? Did you see his nose?
“Apart from a few bruises, I was fine.
“I just had it cut.
“So, of course, I can get back into the big games straight away.
“I think Spence will beat Fandora and I think Crawford will win too, but it won't be an easy fight.
“But I honestly believe I'm king at 154.”
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However, Tsuchiura added that he is not currently in contract negotiations with anyone, including for the rescheduled Ortiz bout.
“I don't have anything planned,” he said.
“But we’ll be ready to leave soon.
“As soon as I get permission, I'll come in.”
“If they give me the green light and allow me to fight, I'm in.”
So what does he want?
“I want to fight the winner of those two,” he said, referring to the Spence-Fandora showdown scheduled for October in Dallas, Texas.
But when asked if that was the next match, the Australian continued: “No, I'd like to play two more matches in between.”
“And now there are multiple names floating around.
“Of course I want to fight for the belt. I want to fight Charlo, Fandora, Erickson Rubin and IBF champion (Bakram) Murtazaliev.”
“But now we have no choice but to wait, and it’s frustrating.
“I'm not a person who likes to wait.
“But I've been told I can return to sparring at the beginning of July.
“For the Ortiz fight, it would have meant two and a half weeks of sparring.
“And I'm not going to go into a fight like that unprepared.
“That's completely stupid.”
The proposed Ortiz match was hastily and highly promoted by Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi Arabian slugger who has fought some of the biggest fights in boxing today.
When asked why His Excellency was so enthusiastic about the match, Tszyu smiled: “His Excellency knows who his opponent is.”
“Simple.
“I'm just upset that I didn't get to fight.”
Tsuchiura said there was no guarantee that his next bout with Ortiz would be rescheduled, but added, “I hope to face Ortiz in the future.”
“This is a fight I absolutely want, 100 percent.”
Tsiu also revealed that, despite mixed reports, Team Fundora had originally agreed to a rematch, possibly in the United States.
“They were eager for a rematch,” he said.
“It was okay.
“However, due to the issue of cutting, we have allowed the Fandora vs Spence bout to go ahead.”
When asked what exactly happened with the cut on his head, he laughed and said, “Ask the doctor, dude.”
“I was training in Thailand but hadn't started sparring yet, and when I came back I had to take a quick medical check to make sure it was OK for me to start sparring again.
“And he said, 'No, not yet… I'm not ready.'”
“The skin wasn't fitting properly.
“I don't know the exact details but I've been told they can't rush it as the cut is in a bad place and if it continues to open up it could affect the rest of my career.”
“And when they told me that, I understood a little bit more.
“But you know who I am, I was really…”
It's certainly been a tumultuous year for Australian boxing's marquee figurehead.
With less than 10 weeks to go until the scheduled fight between Tsuyoshi and Ortiz Jr, George Rose, CEO of his promoters, No Limit, confirmed that the WBA interim super welterweight title bout had been cancelled.
Rose revealed that the 29-year-old needed more time to recover from the deep head lacerations he suffered in his loss to big American southpaw Fundora in March.
The then-WBO champion was seeking his first unification bout in Las Vegas, fighting for the vacant WBC title.
But after dominating the first two rounds, Tsiu was split by a sudden elbow in the final moments of the second round, and was forced to fight the next 10 rounds virtually blind. Bleeding heavily, Tsiu became increasingly unable to move, but continued to fight bravely and lost by split decision.
