It is difficult to believe his career has been reduced to this so early. Consecutive losses to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev clearly changed the direction of his matchmaking.
Fundora took Tszyu’s title by split decision in March 2024 after an accidental elbow opened a severe cut. The defeat came with an excuse because Tszyu fought through blood pouring into his eyes. Murtazaliev removed any room for rationalization seven months later, dropping him repeatedly before getting a third-round stoppage.
Since then, Tszyu has gone from pursuing the strongest opponents available to hunting recognizable fighters coming off long inactivity spells. Spence had not competed in nearly three years before their fight. Charlo has fought once since May 2022 and has never boxed at middleweight.
The money for facing Spence must have been substantial because Tszyu seems eager to repeat the formula. Charlo offers an old storyline and far less certainty than an active contender in his prime. That may make financial sense, but it does little to establish Tszyu as a serious middleweight.
At 31, he should be targeting Yoenli Hernández, Denzel Bentley or WBA champion Erislandy Lara. His drawing power in Australia gives him enough leverage to pursue any of the four middleweight champions without spending years moving through eliminators.
Hernández and Bentley would show how Tszyu handles active, natural middleweights. Lara would give him an opportunity to win a title against a respected champion. Those fights carry genuine sporting value.
Crossing Spence off the shirt creates the image of a mission being completed. In reality, Tszyu defeated one faded name and immediately selected another. Charlo is at least attainable. Crawford and Canelo merely make an archaic list look important.
Tszyu vs Charlo next? 🇦🇺 🇺🇸
The Australian has Jermell at the top of his hit list after his recent win over Errol Spence 😤 pic.twitter.com/mvNPPpadxf
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) August 24, 2026
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