By Matt Lieberman: Tim Tszyu will be returning to the ring in July against possibly Danny Garcia, Liam Smith, or Arif Magomedov in Australia.
Beating one of those three will be the last step for the 26-year-old Tszyu before he challenges for a world title against 154-lb champions Jermell Charlo or Brian Castano.
The former two-division world champion Danny ‘Swift’ is the best known of those three fighters, and it would give the highly popular Tszyu a huge name to add to his growing resume of scalps.
Garcia has a lot of pop in his punches and he has loads of experience during his extensive career at 140 and 147. After his last fight against IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr, Danny decided it was time to move up to 154 to take on the top guys in that weight class.
Garcia wants to become a three-division world champion, but he might have to go through Tszyu for him to get a shot.
The unbeaten Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs) is perhaps one fight away from challenging the winner of the Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano fight for the undisputed championship.
Tszyu will likely need to wait until the smoke clears from the Charlo-Castano unification fight before he gets his shot at the winner.
Tszyu’s promoter George Rose of No Limit Boxing believes that it could take approximately $10 million to bring one of the world champions at 154 to Australia for him to challenge for the titles.
“We have to make it happen,” said Rose to The Sun-Herald about having Tszyu fight Castano or Jermell in Australia. “It is around that figure [$10 million]; it is just what we have to do to make it happen.
“The way I see it, the world title has to be out here in Australia. That’s the situation we’re in and that’s what we need to come up with to make it happen.
“We want the world title and we want it in Australia. Whether it’s Charlo or Castano, they are the targets,” said Tszyu’s promoter Rose.
Tszyu looked sensational last month, beating former two-time world title challenger Dennis Hogan by a fifth-round knockout at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, in Newcastle, Australia.
Tszyu did a better job of defeating Hogan than world champions Jermll Charlo and Jaime Munguia did.
The performance showed that Tszyu is ready to take on IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell (31-0, 19 KOs) or WBO champion Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs).
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith (29-2-1, 16 KOs) would be a good option for Tszyu, and a clear upgrade from the 36-year-old Hogan.
The problem with using the 32-year-old Smith as a step-up opponent for Tszyu is he’s fighting next month against Magomed Kurbanov on May 8th in Russia, and there are no guarantees that he’ll win that fight.
Additionally, Smith was beaten by Munguia in 2018, so there would be less interest from boxing fans if Tszyu were to face him next.