An all-Aussie showdown between former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn 20-2-1 (13) and rising star Tim Tszyu 15-0 (11) looks increasingly likely after Team Tszyu 2.0 agreed to a 60-40 revenue split and the fight taking place in “Brisbane or a neutral location”.
Horn is coming off a revenge win over Michael Zerafa on points last month while Tszyu was last in action in December, knocking out Jack Brubaker in four.
Tszyu is being marketed as the face of Australian boxing with his last four fights taking place on domestic pay-per-view channel Main Event.
According to Main Event broadcaster Ben Damon, negotiations are moving along swiftly.
“Those are the points that have been put to the Tszyu camp and as recently as this morning they’ve confirmed they’re happy to go ahead and accept those conditions… there’s a little more to be done with things like who controls the promotion, and exactly where this fight does end up,” Damon said to Fox Sports.
“But we do have a fight between Tim Tszyu and Jeff Horn. Still some negotiations need to take place but we’re a lot closer than we have been at any other stage, given the Tszyu camp have accepted those two key demands.
“It looks like we can get down to the nitty gritty, sort out the rest of it and get this fight done.
“Most likely, this fight will take place in April, and it can be done as the next fight for these two fighters.”
The 25-year-old Tszyu had a stellar year in 2019, bowling over former Commonwealth champion Denton Vassell in two, annexing the national title from Joel Camilleri on points and defeating world-rated Dwight Ritchie over the distance before knocking out Brubaker to close out the year.