Errol Spence Jnr’s return from an extended near-three-year-long absence from prizefighting will come following a lengthy journey.
BoxingScene confirmed through an official connected to negotiations that former three-belt welterweight champion Spence will venture to Australia to meet that country’s native son, former 154lbs titleholder Tim Tszyu, in an expected Prime Video pay-per-view on July 26 in Australia – July 25 in the US.
Veteran boxing journalist Dan Rafael first reported the news.
Spence, 28-1 (22 KOs), hasn’t fought since his one-sided defeat at the hands of now-retired five-division champion Terence Crawford in July 2023 in Las Vegas.
In that bout, Spence, 36, was knocked down three times before getting stopped by Crawford in the ninth round.
Former WBO belt holder Tszyu, 27-3 (18 KOs), has fought seven times since Spence’s previous appearance, but he has lost three of the bouts – two by knockout.
Tszyu this week announced he was making his second corner change within a year, ditching Cuban trainer Pedro Diaz for countryman Jeff Fenech.
Spence is eyeing the bout not only for the value of the purse but also to re-emerge as a title contender in a rich division that counts fellow Premier Boxing Champions fighter Sebastian Fundora (WBC) and Xander Zayas (WBA, WBO) as titlists and former welterweight belt holder Jaron “Boots” Ennis and WBC interim titleholder Vergil Ortiz Jnr as contenders.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
