Tim Tszyu believes his victory over Joey Spencer last week has brought him back from the dark place his career was at after his back-to-back defeats to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev.

The former WBO 154-lb champion Tszyu is now expected to face 36-year-old Keith Thurman next on July 6th in Australia.

Meaningless Win?

The former WBC and WBA elterweight champion Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs) recently emerged from another two-year layoff to defeat his carefully chosen opponent Brock Jarvis by a third-round knockout on March 12th.

Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs) was in a must-win situation for his fight against Spencer on April 6th, and he responded by knocking out the second-tier fighter in the fourth round in Newcastle. After the fight, Tim compared how he felt in dominating Spencer to how he slaughtered Tony Harrison in nine rounds in 2023.

Like Thurman’s recent cupcake Jarvis, Joey Spencer was also carefully chosen for Tszyu to rebuild his self-confidence, give him a sure-thing win, and get fans excited about his career once again like they had been before his consecutive defeats last year.

Spencer, 24, was never intended to be a true test for Tszyu because he’s NOT a contender and was blown out in seven rounds in 2023 by Jesus Ramos when he attempted to step up to world-class status for the first time.

Thurman looked like an ancient fossil against Brock Jarvis. The speed and mobility that old ‘One Time’ Keith once had was gone. The only thing that remained was his power, which was more than enough for him to subdue the chinny Jarvis in three rounds. That version of Thurman would be food for basically any of the top 15 contenders in the 154 or 147 lb division. He’s lost so much from his game due to inactivity, a sedentary lifestyle, and natural aging.

PTSD as Alibi?

“This fight was so fluid. I was in the zone. I remember when I was in the zone against Tony Harrison, and I had the same feeling in this fight,” said Tim Tszyu to Shawn Porter’s channel, reveling in his 4th round TKO victory over second-tier fighter Joey Spencer on April 6th. “In the [Bakham] Murtazaliev fight, it’s like my head was somewhere else.

“I wasn’t in the moment. When I touched my head for the cut in the Murtazaliev fight, it was like flashbacks, maybe, some sort of PTSD. It was more about taking it round by round rather than going in with no plan whatsoever,” said Tszyu.

Murtazaliev Ignored

Fans would prefer that Tszyu try and avenge his third round knockout loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev instead of fighting the past his prime Thurman, who only fought a handful of times since 2017.

It looks strange that Tszyu isn’t at least trying to avenge his loss to Murtazaliev. Where did Tim’s confidence go to? Is he just cashing out now?