Tim Tszyu’s manager, Glen Jennings, revealed that if his fighter is victorious this Saturday night in the title defense of his WBO junior middleweight belt against Sebastian Fundora, they’ll “immediately” go into negotiations for a super-fight against Terence Crawford.
Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) and Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) will headline Prime PPV this Saturday, March 30th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Crawford has always used his ‘Super Champion’ status at welterweight to become Tszyu’s WBO mandatory at 154, and he’s made it clear that’s the fight he wants.
Tszyu is eager to fight Crawford, the former three-division world champion (40-0, 31 KOs), who is ranked high in the pound-for-pound ratings. Many fans feel he’s invincible after his win over Errol Spence Jr.
Negotiations Begin if Tszyu Wins
“So immediately after that fight, when everything becomes official, we’ll go straight into negotiations to see what we can get done,” said Jennings to FoxSports Au about Tszyu going immediately into negotiations with Crawford if he’s victorious against Fundora this Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“Of course, Tim will also have a WBC mandatory, which clouds the situation somewhat. But obviously, when Crawford comes into play, the entire boxing world sits up and takes notice.”
Crawford feels he’s a lock to beat Tszyu because if he thought it was a fight he’d lose, he’d likely swerve him, as many feel he’s doing with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis at 147.
Terence wouldn’t risk his chance for a cash-out mega-payday against Canelo Alvarez if he didn’t feel he could defeat Tszyu. Crawford’s years have made him wise, and he sees Tszyu as slow, easy to hit, and a sure-thing win for him.
It could backfire, with Tszyu taking advantage of Crawford’s overconfidence, inactivity, and age and fighting in a new weight class to defeat him.
Can Tszyu Exploit Crawford’s Weaknesses?
- Age
- Inactivity
- New weight class
- Overconfidence
Given his advanced age, inactivity, and weak resume, the 36-year-old Crawford faces a lot of risk. His only solid win on his 16-year-old resume came against the 33-year-old Spence, who looked slow and weight-drained, nothing like the fighter he’d been when he defeated Lamont Person in 2018.
Once you remove Spence’s name from Crawford’s resume, you’re left with these fighters:
Jeff Horn
Kell Brook: 34
Shawn Porter: 34
David Avanesyan
Jose Benavidez Jr
Egidijus Kavaliauskas
Julius Indongo
Thomas Dulorme
Ricky Burns
Viktor Postol
Ray Beltran
Amir Khan