Tim Tszyu thought for the second time in barely a year that he would fight Keith Thurman, only to agree to box Sebastian Fundora instead.

The difference is, fighting Fundora is what Tszyu wanted this time around.

Fundora replaced Thurman as Tszyu’s opponent in March 2024 less than two weeks before the two were scheduled to headline a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view show at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Australia’s Tszyu thought beating Thurman, a former WBA/WBC welterweight champ, would’ve helped make him a star in the United States.

Thurman sustained a biceps injury while training, however, and Fundora happily accepted a move up from his spot on the undercard into the main event. Fundora was scheduled to face rugged Ukrainian Serhii Bohachuk, but he instead battled Tszyu for versions of the WBC and WBO 154-pound championships.

Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs) infamously suffered a grotesque gash in the middle of his hairline just before the bell sounded to end the second round of his fight with Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs), whose elbow grazed his head. A resilient Tszyu fought through the blood and pain, but he lost a split decision.

Fundora told Tszyu then that he would grant him a rematch. That became less marketable once IBF junior middleweight champ Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) dropped Tszyu four times and stopped him in the third round of their Oct. 19 bout in Orlando, Florida.

A rematch became an option again, however, after Tszyu stopped Joey Spencer in the fourth round April 6 in Newcastle, Australia.

It appeared then, though, that Fundora would defend his WBC and WBO belts against Xander Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs), the mandatory challenger for the WBO junior middleweight title.

Tszyu seemed headed toward a rescheduled fight with Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs), who attended the Sydney native’s victory over Spencer (19-2, 11 KOs) and engaged in trash talk with him afterward. Three weeks earlier, Thurman stopped Australia’s Brock Jarvis (22-2, 20 KOs) in the third round of a March 12 fight in Sydney scheduled to build interest in a bout with Tszyu.

Sampson Lewkowicz, Fundora’s promoter, and Top Rank, Zayas’ promoter, couldn’t finalize an agreement. Fundora thus relinquished the WBO title and Tszyu received the rematch he wanted all along.

“Big kudos to him,” Tszyu told The Ring regarding Fundora. “He’s coming back to the promise that he made and it shows the character he has.”

Facing Thurman in Australia would’ve been big business. Tszyu is nonetheless thrilled to have an opportunity to avenge his first professional defeat on the undercard of a pay-per-view show that will feature the return of 46-year-old Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao.

“I thought all roads were leading to [Thurman],” Tszyu said. “It would’ve been a big blockbuster fight in Australia. I think that’s what the plan was in my head. But as soon as the Joey Spencer fight finished, I was like, ‘I want the rematch. That’s what I wanna aim for.’ I think the fact that it was just such a historic fight [with Fundora] that I really wanted to relive it and right the wrong. It’s a big chapter to relive, big chapter to restart. It’s the most meaningful fight of my career, of my life.”

Tszyu (minus-145) is a slight favorite to defeat Fundora (plus-115), according to DraftKings. Their fight for the WBC super welterweight title will be Premier Boxing Champions’ co-feature before Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) challenges WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) in the main event of a four-fight, pay-per-view show (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT; $79.95).