Tim Tszyu says he is ready to retire Errol Spence Jr. from the sport forever when the two fighters meet on Saturday, July 25. Speaking at a media event on May 2, Tszyu said he has kept the receipts from everything Spence has said about him and wants to knock him out.
Tszyu said Spence is stepping into his backyard and that he is undefeated at home. He described the bout as the kind of matchup he has been chasing, saying he has always hunted the biggest fights and biggest names and now has one right in front of him.
For Spence, the fight marks a return after more than 1,000 days away from the ring. He has not fought since Terence Crawford knocked him out in one of the biggest fights of 2023, a loss that changed the direction of his career and left his comeback under a long shadow.
Tszyu’s own path into the bout has been uneven. He had losses to Bakhram Murtazaliev and Sebastian Fundora before rebounding with two straight wins, giving him momentum at the same time Spence is trying to prove he still belongs among boxing’s elite. That contrast gives Saturday’s fight its edge: one man trying to continue a climb, the other trying to write a comeback that has already taken too long to make.
Tszyu said he respects what Spence has done in the sport, but that was then. While Spence has been staying away, Tszyu said he has been in the fire, taking his hits and learning the hard way. Now he believes the result is already clear. If he backs up those words in the ring, Spence’s return could end the way his long absence has loomed over it.