Tim Tszyu has a rematch that he can use to force a second fight with WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora next, giving him a chance to avenge his loss last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Those who saw the fight don’t believe that Tszyu’s cut made a difference in the outcome. They think he would have lost even if he were 100% because he couldn’t keep up with the high work rate from Fundora.
Fans Want Something DifferentÂ
If Tszyu, 29, is going to activate his rematch clause, it will disappoint many fans. They’d rather see Fundora fight Errol Spence or Terence Crawford next than watch Tszyu get a second chance after failing miserably, losing a 12-round split decision.
Although Errol Spence gave the impression to fans that he’ll be next up for Fundora, it’ll be up to Tszyu to decide if he wants to take the immediate rematch.
There would be more fan interest in seeing a fight between Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) than wanting to pay to watch a rematch between Tszyu and Fundora. A rematch won’t do big numbers without Tszyu returning against another opponent.
That might not matter to Tszyu. He just wants to avenge his loss and win back his WBO belt.
The Injury Complication
What could complicate a rematch is the amount of time that will need to recover from a deep scalp cut on the top of his head.
If that cut will take most of the remainder of this year to heal, it’s not fair to Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) or the fans to sit and wait for Tszyu to heal up so they can run it back.
Even before Tszyu suffered a bad cut, he was loading up on single shots and not throwing many punches. In other words, Tszyu was fighting like he did after the injury. It’s very likely that Fundora still would have won the fight if the cut had not happened.
Fundora’s height and reach were a big problem for Tszyu, and the injury wasn’t as much of a factor as some fans thought.
The Ideal Scenario
One option would be for Tszyu’s management to postpone the rematch with Fundora and wait until he faces Errol Spence or Terence Crawford to fight the winner of that match.
That would be ideal because it would give fans a more appealing fight between Fundora and one of those two stars. It would also allow time for Tszyu’s injury to heal.