Tim Tszyu Plans To Unleash Benavidez-Style Swarm On Spence

The Australian says he wants to unleash a David Benavidez-style attack while suggesting money, not legacy, brought Spence back to the ring.

Tim Tszyu believes Errol Spence Jr.’s comeback is driven by financial motivation rather than unfinished business ahead of Saturday’s fight in Sydney. The former WBO champion also says he plans to adopt the relentless style that has made David Benavidez one of boxing’s most aggressive pressure fighters.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really a fan of Errol Spence. Never was, never will be. I’m more David Benavidez style, you know, that Mexican style. That’s the boxing style that I aspire to be. We just unleash,” said Tszyu to Fight Hub TV.

Tszyu, 31, has never had the Benavidez-esque fighting style, and he’s far along in his career for him to remake his approach after 10 years in the game. He’s always loaded up on single power shots to chop down his opponents, many of them not being older and not cutting-edge fighters.

Only recently in fights against Anthony Velazquez, Denis Nurja and Joey Spencer did we see Tszyu throw combinations that resembled Benavidez’s style. Those fighters weren’t a threat to making Tszyu pay for fighting like that the way Spence could or how Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev did.

“When you’ve made $20 million from one fight, your mind changes, I guess,” said Tszyu about Spence. “Three years of enjoying yourself, it slowly starts to run out. You need a little bit more money. So I think that’s probably his biggest inspiration right now.

“What happens behind the scenes is the most important thing. I think the last three years of what he was doing in those three years will come out.”

Tszyu could be right about Spence. If he’s returning for the wrong reasons, it might not end well for him on Saturday night. It would have helped if Spence had taken one or two tune-up fights before facing Tszyu. For him to jump straight into this clash, it’s a risk for any ring-rusty fighter, especially one that has been involved in the kind of car crash Spence experienced in 2019.

“I wouldn’t take this fight if I thought I was going to lose. I am 100% confident in victory, and this is why this fight is made,” said Tszyu. “New coaches, new outlook in life, new outlook in boxing. And I got this crazy hunger, and it just grows in the stomach. Yes, will I bring out the monster? I will bring out that monster.”