Former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu 24-1 (17) will spend a little longer than expected on the sidelines after medical experts advised him the cut he suffered in his last bout would not be sufficiently healed for him to face Vergil Ortiz Jr 21-0 (21) at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California on August 3 as previously scheduled.
The 29-year-old Australian needed to have his scalp stitched up after his last bout against late replacement Sebastian Fundora 21-1-1 (13) in Las Vegas in March after an accidental elbow opened up a deep cut that bled profusely for the rest of the fight.
Tszyu lost that bout to the six-foot-six Californian southpaw via split decision by scores of 116-112, 113-115 and 112-116, but promised to make a quick return to the ring.
The bout against Texan Ortiz, 26, was widely applauded when it was made as a masterstroke of matchmaking, pitting two young, hungry and heavy-handed contenders against each other. For now, fight fans will have to wait.
Renowned boxing journalist Dan Rafael was first to break the news that the fight was cancelled.
“Per source, Tim Tszyu has been forced to withdraw from his Aug. 3 fight vs Vergil Ortiz Jr on the #CrawfordMadrimov mega card being put on by @Turki_alalshikh in LA. Doc ruled him out due to terrible cut suffered vs Fundora not being healed enough for him to fight,” Rafael posted to social media platform X.
Tszyu had already begun his training camp in Thailand, where he has been working with his famous father and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Kostya Tszyu.
Tszyu’s promoter No Limit confirmed the withdrawal from the Ortiz Jr fight in a short statement today.
“We are bitterly disappointed with the setback and Tim is extremely frustrated after a great pre-camp with Kostya,” said No Limit CEO George Rose.
“He showed everyone that he’ll fight through anything against Fundora but this decision was taken out of his hands to be honest. Ultimately, it was his body and medical professionals telling him he wasn’t ready yet.”
Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings voiced his disappointment at the delay.
“Boxing is a brutal sport in and out of the ring,” said Jennings on social media. “Today’s news that the Tim Tszyu v Vergil Ortiz fight has been canceled upon medical advice after review of Tim’s scalp wound is a hard one to swallow.
“Tim is a fighter first and foremost. He, like all of our team, are bitterly disappointed, but we are also all together on the fact that fighting at this elite level needs 100%. Nothing less.
“And so Tim will continue to train without sparring whilst we wait on clearance to move forward.
“One thing we do know [is that] Tim’s intention is to take them all.”
