Sunday Convo: Is Tim Tszyu Already Past His Prime at 29?

On Saturday night, junior middleweight Tim Tszyu (24-2, 17 KOs) was given another opportunity at a world title after losing his WBO strap in May, and although he was the 7-1 odds favorite, there was still a small amount of doubt about the fight from fans as Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) was undefeated. It could be said Murtazaliev was avoided by former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KOs) for years as he was the mandatory and how Saturday night ended, we can see why. After Murtazaliev and Tszyu fought, the question that no one expected to ask themselves was, did we already witness the prime of Tszyu’s career and not even realize it? The beating he took from the hands of Murtazaliev in just three rounds magnified that question on Saturday night as Tszyu appeared a shell of his former self.

The Ghosts of May Past

Going into Saturday night, there were a few fighters in the house at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, FL, but none of them a bigger star in the sport than hall of famer Kostya Tszyu, who was in the corner of his son Tim for the first time in his pro career. It was the second time Kostya attended his son’s fight, but the last time was in May when Tim was in a bloody war with current unified champion Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs).

That was the night that an accidental elbow busted Tszyu’s forehead open in the second round, leading to a blood-filled slugfest. Tszyu and Fundora went to war for 12 rounds, and you could almost feel like a piece of both men was left in the ring that night. Although we are still waiting to see if it has had an impact on Fundora, who hasn’t fought since May, Tszyu is clearly still having some PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from the fight, as we all witnessed in the opening round against Murtazaliev.

Once the bell rang and both fighters took a few seconds to feel each other out, Tszyu and Murtazaliev began to exchange, but once Murtazaliev landed the first left hook of the night, the fight was over. “After the first shot, things started not going according to plan,” said Tszyu. “That’s part of boxing, you get hit and reactions get slower.”

It wasn’t that he knocked out Tszyu, but it was more so that it appeared he hurt Tszyu and took him to a place he wasn’t prepared to be mentally at that moment. Then, shortly after, there was a close exchange where there was a head butt, and Tszyu immediately rubbed the part of his head that was cut in May and looked at his glove as if he was expecting to see blood. He did this a few times, almost as if he wanted to convince himself that there was blood on his glove. At that point, Tszyu was done, and he could not block Murtazaliev’s left hook.

Tszyu has the heart of a lion and landed some big shots on Murtazaliev in the second round, but he kept getting hit with that left hook and went down three times. Looking back, Tszyu’s corner should have stopped the fight after that round, but they allowed him to go back out there only to have Tszyu get dropped again, forcing the corner to throw in the towel at that point. Murtazaliev was crowned the new IBF junior middleweight champion and pulled off one of the bigger upsets of 2024.

Has Tim Tszyu Already Past His Prime?

It’s hard to say if Tszyu is past his prime, but on Saturday night, that wasn’t the same fighter that battered Brian Mendoza for 12 rounds, stopped Carlos Ocampo & Tony Harrison, and, in 2022, earned a unanimous decision over Terrell Gausha. Tszyu appeared like a fighter with no punch resistance left and likely didn’t get the adequate amount of sparring to get ready for this fight in fear of that cut opening up. That cut not healing properly cost Tszyu the Vergil Ortiz Jr. fight in August, leading to Saturday’s matchup with Murtazaliev.

Although Tszyu prides himself on being an active fighter, this may be the moment of his career where he takes extended time away from the ring to see what he wants to do with his career. A shakeup in his corner may be due as well. Tszyu has yet to have a proven cutman in his corner and has holes in his defense that must be addressed. The weight cut to 154 may also be an issue that hasn’t been made publicly, so a move up to middleweight could begin as early as next year.

Tszyu’s come-forward style has a shelf life. For some fighters, that lasts longer than others. But in the case of the 29-year-old Tszyu, we may have already seen the best of him, and he may have to start thinking about how many fights he has left before calling it a career.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

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