About a week.

That’s how long Tim Tszyu estimated that he stayed away from the gym in Australia after Bakhram Murtazaliev brutalized him 5½ months ago. The prideful Sydney native couldn’t stay away from at least light training any longer than that, though his body obviously could’ve used more rest, because he wanted to begin the process of correcting countless mental and physical mistakes that led to him getting dropped four times during a third-round, technical-knockout defeat.

“I think it was like two, three weeks from boxing,” Tszyu told a small group of reporters during a Zoom interview. “And then I got back into the gym. But training, I was training sorta like a week after. So, yeah, it wasn’t like – I’m always in the gym and stuff like that, so yeah, it’s part of my life.”

Tszyu, 30, also considers his devastating defeat to Murtazaliev a part of life, albeit an obvious obstacle he’ll need to start overcoming early Sunday afternoon in Newcastle, Australia. That’s where Tszyu will meet American Joey Spencer in a 10-round junior middleweight match, the main event of a nine-fight card at Newcastle Entertainment Centre.

The resilient Tszyu is confident that 2025 will be a much better year for him than his disastrous 2024. That process began once Tszyu, a son of former junior welterweight champ Kostya Tszyu, was given a clean bill of health after undergoing extensive medical testing following his lopsided loss to Russia’s Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) on October 19 at Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida.

“We went straight after the fight, that night,” Tszyu said of his first trip to a medical facility. “And then I made sure to go get another test [in Australia]. But I made sure to have all the proper vitamins and stuff for something that occurred like that. But yeah, everything was sweet.”

His sureness notwithstanding, Tszyu must prove even to an adoring Australian fan base that back-to-back losses to Sebastian Fundora and Murtazaliev haven’t ruined his career.

The nasty gash he sustained near the middle of his hairline was a major factor in his 12-round, split-decision defeat to Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs) a year ago at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Tszyu was still a 7-1 favorite versus Murtazaliev, which was what made that stunning setback so alarming.

Spencer is more boxer than puncher, but the Linden, Michigan native has lost only to Jesus Ramos. The left-handed Ramos (23-1, 19 KOs), a southpaw from Casa Grande, Arizona, stopped Spencer (19-1, 11 KOs) in the seventh round of their March 2023 bout at T-Mobile Arena.

“That’s why we put in an opponent such as Spencer, you know?,” Tszyu said. “We didn’t put in some walkover-type guy. What do they call them, tune-up [opponents]? We didn’t want a tune-up fighter. We got Joey Spencer because he’s a durable opponent. And, you know, when you get a victory over him you’re back in the mix. And that’s my goal, to get back in the mix straight away.”

Tszyu’s respect aside, DraftKings lists him as an 8-1 favorite to beat Spencer. Their bout will be the last of four fights streamed by Amazon’s Prime Video on Saturday night in the United States (9 p.m. ET; 6 p.m. PT).