Welterweight Mykal Fox left with a favorable impression after sparring Tim Tszyu for his upcoming rematch with Sebastian Fundora.
Tszyu looks to avenge his March 2024 split decision loss to Fundora on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena as the co-feature of Mario Barrios-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view.
Fox, 24-5 (5 KOs), is a 6ft 3ins welterweight southpaw. Before Fox’s last fight, a unanimous decision loss to Serhii Bohachuk, he had been contacted by Tszyu’s team to replicate Fundora, a 6ft 6ins junior middleweight belt holder. Fox, a 29-year-old from Forestville, Maryland, saw his boxing skills take him across the world as he spent a good portion of the camp in Sydney, Australia.
“Over the weeks, he made adjustments,” Fox told BoxingScene of working with Tszyu. “He is still applying pressure, but there are layers to it. He isn’t just walking someone down until they finally give in.”
This was Fox’s second camp with Tszyu, 25-2 (18 KOs), albeit he only went 16 rounds of sparring with him in one week for Tszyu’s first bout with Fundora. In contrast, he did 82 rounds for this camp. Fundora, 22-1-1 (14 KOs), enters the bout having stopped Chordale Booker in March. That is the 27-year-old Fundora’s only fight since his win over Tszyu.
“He punches hard,” Fox said. “His entire team treated me with respect, and I appreciate that a lot.”
Fox was grateful for how the 30-year-old Tszyu of Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia, made him feel welcomed.
“Everyone was always checking in with me, and I think that is important to anyone who is running a camp,” Fox said. “Yeah, I was there to spar, and I was on their dollar, but they treated me like I was somebody. They treated me like a teammate.”
Fox had never experienced horror stories while being a sparring partner in camp, but recalls his brother Alantez Fox was invited to a training camp, and had an off-putting experience.
“So, my brother was in camp, and most camps have set sparring days on one of the days; he was texted that they weren’t sparring that day,” Fox said. “He was relaxing at the hotel, and saw on social media the boxer in the gym. When he asked if he could go to the gym, he felt they were being standoffish and made his training plans at local gyms.”
Fox returns July 26 against Kendo Castaneda, 21-10 (9 KOs), at the Maryland Live Casino, Hanover, Maryland. Castaneda, a 31-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, is on a four-fight losing streak. Fox will forever remember the things outside of the ring as much as the training itself.
“I went to the Sydney Opera House. I attended a rugby game. Those are things I experienced through my boxing skills,” Fox said. “I get to tell people my boxing skills let me travel across the world.
