The soul was taken from “The Soul Taker.”
Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) was dropped in the first round, and although he had solid spurts in the fight, he just couldn’t find it in himself to continue, admitting afterward that it felt like he was shadowboxing himself against a 6-foot-6 rival who proved to be too much to handle.
The defeat marked the third loss in four fights for the second-generation Australian star. On Tuesday, the former 154-pound titleholder took to social media to further expand on falling short.
“When I first started the sport, I said that I wanted to get to the very top, and I didn't mind crashing and burning on the way up,” said Tszyu. “We did crash and burn, but we still move forward. Some things go your way, some things don't. It's who you become in the pursuit of greatness rather than the result itself. I'm proud to say that I have become a different person in my pursuit of greatness.”
Tszyu competes in the stacked junior middleweight division, but it’s fair to wonder how he’ll fare moving forward against elite contenders such as
Vergil Ortiz,
Israil Madrimov,
Serhii Bohachuk and
Jesus Ramos Jr., all of whom are ranked in
The Ring’s top 10 in the division. Tszyu lost a 12-round split decision to Fundora in a bloodbath last year and was dropped four times and knocked out by
Bakhram Murtazaliev in three rounds. Tszyu
came back to knock out fringe contender Joey Spencer before his rematch with Fundora.
“It's never going to be easy, but it will pay off,” said Tszyu. “Fundora was the better man, and I will have to accept that, even though it's hard. I gave it my all, but we have to move on. The goal doesn't change.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan