Tim Tszyu says he needs to “rewrite history” when he challenges Sebastian Fundora for his WBC junior middleweight title in their rematch on July 19th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Tszyu-Fundora Rematch Preview
The former WBO 154-lb champion Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs) is getting a chance for redemption after losing his title to Fundora by a 12-round split decision last year in March. Tim’s record is 1-2 in his last three fights.
Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs) seemed to handle Tszyu pretty well. Tim blames his loss on not having a full 10-week camp and suffering a cut in the second round of the fight. Boxing fans see Tszyu’s shotgun approach with excuses as an example of a fighter who can’t admit the truth. He just wasn’t good enough.
“It’s a great opportunity. It’s something I need to rewrite history. I’m very blessed to be back in this opportunity,” said Tim Tszyu to Fighthype about his rematch with WBC junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora on July 19th.
Tszyu is getting the rematch with Fundora despite having lost two out of his last three fights and not beating a top-15 contender in two years. This is more of a business-level battle than a sporting one because Tszyu doesn’t deserve a rematch with Fundora.
Choosing Fundora Rematch
“As soon as the fight finished [against Joey Spencer], I said, ‘I want to go straight into the fire and go back into redemption.’ That meant fighting against Fundora,” said Tszyu about why he chose not to fight Keith Thurman. He wanted the rematch with Fundora.
It makes sense for Tszyu to skip the fight against old ‘One Time’ Thurman, because that would have been a no-win situation. Thurman has been so inactive, and he’s old now. No matter how good Tszyu looked in that fight, he wouldn’t have received credit for the victory due to Thurman’s time out of the ring and his advanced age.
“It was mixed emotions because of what previously happened, you had to go through demons in that fight,” said Tszyu about his loss last year to Fundora. “So, I’m going back and I’m reliving the demons. But I’m looking at it in a real positive way.”
It sounds like Tszyu is still haunted by his loss to Sebastian. I just hope Tim knows what he’s getting himself into by pressing ahead with the rematch, because if he loses this fight to Fundora, it could be flashbacks for life. He could be eaten up by regret.
He’d be one of those types of vets that one sees walking around the block, looking gloomy. What Tim should have done is fight Jorge Garcia Perez first. He’s seen as Fundora 2.0 with the long arms and the difficult high-volume punch output.
Tszyu’s Loss Excuses
“What can happen in winning this fight is what gets me up each morning. I’ve got a full 10-week prep against a tall fighter instead of just the two sparrings that I previously had. What lost me the fight was I lost my head, and my brain at a certain given time,” said Tszyu about why he lost to Fundora.
Tim’s loss to Fundora had nothing to do with him not getting a full 10-week camp for the fight. He fought the same way as he did againt Brian Mendoza, Carlos Ocampo, and Tony Harrison with his aggressive approach. He tried to fight with aggression against Fundora, and that was his undoing. Fundora had too much size, youth and punch output for Tszyu to deal with.
“From rounds three to seven or eight, I wasn’t thinking about the fight. I was coming back to my corner. It wasn’t on my mind about what I should be adjusting, but what was in front of me,” said Tszyu about his mindset against ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora.”I felt like I was in survival-type mode. I was more about showing my heart, and showing what I’m capable of rather than sticking to the game plan and sticking to what I’m good at.”
Tim’s Fight Memory
It sounds like Tim’s memory of the fight with Fundora is a little foggy because he wasn’t fighting in survival mode. Tszyu continued to attack Sebastian as he’d been doing, but he couldn’t handle the reach, the weird angles, and the punches from the long-armed Fundora were hitting him.
The game plan that Tszyu was using before the cut was the same as he always employs for his fights. Tszyu was on the attack, throwing punches with full power, trying to score a quick knockout.
“So, this fight [Fundora rematch], I’m going to come out and I’m hoping to stick to what I’m good at and bring out the best in each round and win each round,” said Tszyu.
Tim doesn’t say what he’s good at to make his rematch any different than the previous fight. He was taking a lot of shots from Sebastian, even early in the fight when he was slugging, and nothing changed. He continued to get hit a lot. The only difference was that he was fighting blind at times, but not all the time.
