Tim Tszyu: his own man, a WBO world title and the night he beat Errol Spence Jr | Ultimate Boxing Reunion

Why fans still care

TIM TSZYU won a world title on his own terms, in Sydney in 2023, and then did the harder thing. He lost it, lost twice more, changed his corner and came back to beat Errol Spence Jr in front of a sold-out home crowd in 2026.

He has always said he wants to be judged as himself. “I am my own man at the end of the day,” he told ESPN in 2018. After he stopped Jeff Horn two years later he put it more simply: “I just want everyone to know my name is Tim.”

Early life

He was born on 2 November 1994 and grew up in Sydney. ABC News noted he was barely two months old when his father, Kostya Tszyu, Who’s Who number 2, won his first world title in Las Vegas.

As a boy he tried gymnastics and then soccer, and he remembers a training session with CSKA Moscow. He came back to boxing and got over a broken wrist before he turned professional. He has said he doesn’t think his parents wanted him to fight, and that his dad never put any pressure on him.

Career chapters

1. 2016Professional debut, December
2. 2019Beats Dwight Ritchie in Sydney for the WBO Global title
3. 2020Stops Jeff Horn in Townsville
4. 2022US debut, gets up to beat Terrell Gausha in Minneapolis
5. 2023Stops Tony Harrison for the interim WBO title; elevated to full WBO champion; beats Brian Mendoza
6. 2024Loses the title to Sebastian Fundora; stopped by Bakhram Murtazaliev in an IBF challenge
7. 2025Loses the Fundora rematch; changes his team
8. 2026Moves to middleweight, beats Denis Nurja, then Errol Spence Jr with Jeff Fenech, Who’s Who number 12 in his corner

The rise 2016 to 2019

He made his professional debut in December 2016, and by September 2018 he was 10 and 0 with eight knockouts. On 14 August 2019 in Sydney he outpointed Dwight Ritchie over 10 rounds for the vacant WBO Global title, and Horn watched from ringside. That made him 14 and 0.

Jeff Horn 26 August 2020

The all-Australian fight in Townsville had a bitter build-up. About 16,000 people came to a socially distanced stadium. Tszyu put Horn down with an uppercut in round 3, dropped him again later, and Horn stayed on his stool after the eighth.

“Tim was young, hungry, he’s an absolute champion,” Horn said afterwards.

America 27 March 2022

His US debut was against Terrell Gausha at The Armory in Minneapolis. He was knocked down in the first round, got up and won a unanimous decision over 12 rounds. Afterwards he welcomed facing adversity for the first time.

World champion 12 March 2023

Tony Harrison had beaten Jermell Charlo, and they met in Sydney for the vacant interim WBO title. Harrison was busier early. Tszyu rocked him with an overhand right in round 3, edged round 5 with body shots, stung him with a right in round 8 and stopped him in round 9. He was 22 and 0. “It means I just beat the man that beat the man,” he said.

He knocked out Carlos Ocampo in the first round on the Gold Coast that June. Charlo pulled out of his mandatory defence against Tszyu to fight Canelo Álvarez, Who’s Who number 8 (story coming soon), and the WBO elevated Tszyu to full champion. On 15 October 2023 he beat Brian Mendoza on the Gold Coast, 116 to 111, 116 to 112 and 117 to 111.

Fundora 30 March 2024

Keith Thurman was injured, and Sebastian Fundora came in late. In round 2 Tszyu ducked into Fundora’s elbow and was cut on the forehead, and by round 4 his face was covered in blood. Fundora won a split decision, 115 to 113 and 116 to 112, with the third judge scoring it 116 to 112 for Tszyu. It was his first loss in 25 fights, and it cost him the WBO title.

Hard nights 2024 to 2025

On 19 October 2024 in Orlando he challenged Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF title. He was put down four times, and his trainer Igor Goloubev threw in the towel in round 3. Tszyu said afterwards that the better man had won.

He stopped Joseph Spencer in Newcastle in April 2025. That July he met Fundora again, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, for the WBC title. He was down in the first round, and he didn’t come out for the eighth.

Starting again 2025 to 2026

He parted with Goloubev and his manager Glen Jennings, tried five American coaches and picked Pedro Diaz of Miami. In December 2025 he outpointed Anthony Velazquez in Sydney, his first fight above 70 kilograms. In April 2026 he beat Denis Nurja in Wollongong for the WBO International middleweight title, 100 to 88 on all three cards.

That month he left Diaz, saying he’d been away from home too long. Jeff Fenech, Who’s Who number 12 came in as an adviser and then took over his training.

Errol Spence Jr 26 July 2026

Spence was a former unified welterweight champion, and they met at a sold-out Afterpay Arena in Sydney. Tszyu’s right hand took over from round 6. He went to the body in round 10, and he finished with rights in the 12th. He won a unanimous decision, 118 to 110, 117 to 111 and 117 to 111, and Spence announced his retirement.

“Beating a great like Errol Spence tops any world title for me,” Tszyu said.

Style, technique and the corner

How he fights

He’s a pressure fighter. Before they met, Spence said Tszyu planned to press him and impose his will. He can start slowly, as he did against Harrison, when he barely threw a punch in the first round.

The punches

The right hand is his best punch, thrown overhand or straight. It rocked Harrison and it won him the Spence fight. He goes to the body, as he did against Harrison in round 5 and Spence in round 10, and his uppercut put Horn down and hurt Mendoza.

The corner

Igor Goloubev trained him until 2025. Pedro Diaz, who has coached Miguel Cotto, Filip Hrgović and Guillermo Rigondeaux, had him for two fights. Since April 2026 it has been Fenech, with Basil Nassis on the pads. In the Spence fight Fenech’s instruction was to “catch and counter.” CBS Sports noted Fenech was his third head coach in four fights.

Weight

He was a super welterweight until 2025. He moved up through a catchweight fight above 70 kilograms in December 2025 and has fought at middleweight since.

Stories people still tell

1. His own name.

   “I just want everyone to know my name is Tim,” he said after the Horn fight, and he has said the same thing in different words since 2018.

2. The man that beat the man.

   Harrison had beaten Charlo, and Tszyu wanted Charlo next. When Charlo chose Canelo instead, the WBO made Tszyu its full champion.

3. The next one.

   “Middleweight is my division now, Spence was just the appetizer,” he said in October 2026, when the Lara fight was announced.

Legacy

He’s still writing it. He has been a WBO world champion, he has never lost a fight in Australia, and he beat Spence in the biggest win of his career. He has said the two greats he is trying to match are his father and Fenech.