Rebuilding Tim Tszyu: Critical Calls For New Training And Strategic Changes After Disastrous Fundora Rematch

Tim Tszyu’s training and management team are receiving much criticism from fans and the media over his seventh-round stoppage loss to WBC junior middleweight champion last Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Fundora Rematch Blame

The decision by his management to rush into the rematch with the 6’5″ Fundora is being second-guessed after the disaster of last weekend. Tim’s training team is under fire for the lack of improvement made in his game. He looked like the same fighter he’d been in his loss to Fundora in 2024.

“If they had stopped that fight in the second or third round, Tim’s career might have gone in a different direction,” said Chris Mannix on his channel about Tim Tszyu’s first fight against Sebastian Fundora in 2024 when he was cut badly in round two. “He wouldn’t have had to fight Bakhram Murtazaliev for a world title.”

Tszyu’s training team might have been worried about his reaction if they pulled him out after he sustained his cut in the Fundora fight. Understandably, they would be hesitant to stop the contest if they were worried about facing his anger afterward, and possibly getting fired. He hadn’t lost to anyone up to that point in his career, and they might have thought he’d get to Sebastian sooner or later with his punching power.

“He goes back and beats Joey Spencer, and his team thinks he’s ready for a rematch with Fundora. He needed at least two fights, maybe three to get to the level of skills-wise and confidence-wise to fight Fundora a second time. Did you see anything different from Tim Tszyu? The head movements not there. His training team and management staff has done a terrible job.”

You can’t blame Tszyu for rushing into the second fight with Fundora. The money Tszyu got for the rematch with Fundora was likely too tempting for him not to fight him a second time. If Tim had chosen to wait, the fight might not have been there for him. With Fundora entering Harvard, he won’t be able to stay on top for much longer, given the time commitments involved.

“They put their fighter in unwinnable situations over the last year. If Tim Tszyu wants to keep going, he has to revamp everything. He has to clean house,” said Mannix.

Tszyu Career Rebuild

1. Dump the entire training team
2. Relocate to the U.S. to train in a gym with talented fighters.
3. Spar with the quality guys. Don’t use the same person.
4. Move down to 147. Tszyu lacks the talent to win a world title in the deep 154 lb division. There are too many good fighters in this weight class. Even if it drains Tim, he needs to fight at welterweight. That’s his only chance of becoming a world champion again.

An obvious move for Tszyu would be to replace the entire training team from top to bottom. Eliminate all of them and replace them with a proven trainer and a team of winners.

“30 years and shot at already? They put him up against a 6’6″ southpaw, and then put him in with this undefeated, hard-punching Russian [IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev] and then give him a gimme, [Joey] Spencer, to get his confidence back,” said Sergio Mora about the matchmaking done for Tszyu.

Tszyu might still be salvageable. He was matched against two fighters that were all wrong for him, and would have beaten him at any stage of his career. His management needs to be more selective in the fighters they choose.

Avoid Dangerous Fighters

The 154-lb division is a minefield of dangerous fighters that would likely do the same thing to Tszyu that Murtazaliev and Fundora did. Tszyu is a good fighter, but more of a contender than a championship-level fighter. Tim needs to move down to welterweight because he’ll never win another world title at junior middleweight. There are too many excellent fighters in the division who are younger and have superior skills to him.

What boxing fans may not remember is that Tszyu was elevated to WBO champion in 2023, rather than winning it inside the ring. If he had to fight one of the top names at junior middleweight, he likely would have never won the WBO title.

Fighters Tszyu Must Permanently Avoid

– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
– Yoenis Tellez
– Israil Madrimov
– Erickson Lubin
– Sebastian Fundora
– Bakhram Murtazaliev
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Jorge Garcia Perez
– Xander Zayas
– Charles Conwell

“Then they put him right back in there with a ‘Towering Inferno’ [Fundora]. It was a career that was brought down so immediately that it had so much potential to make life-changing money. One or two bad decisions ruined that kid’s career,” said Mora.

Initially, Tszyu’s management team believed he’d handle Fundora like he’d done other fighters when he was brought in as a late replacement in 2024 after Keith Thurman was injured. Tim had looked unbeatable up to that point. Fundora had recently been knocked out by Brian Mendoza, one of Tszyu’s former wins.