- Pair were due to face off in Las Vegas on March 30
- Thurman was former unified welterweight champ
- Tszyu’s last fight was a win over Brian Mendoza
Tim Tszyu’s scheduled Las Vegas debut is in doubt after American Keith Thurman was forced out of the pay-per-view blockbuster with a training injury.
Team Tszyu are scrambling to find a replacement, with Sebastian Fundora the frontrunner, so the headline act can go ahead on March 30 at T-Mobile Arena.
Thurman, a former unified welterweight champion, has fought just once since losing to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.
He scored a unanimous points win over Mario Barrios in February 2022.
Thurman (pictured left with Tszyu when their fight was announced in February) has reportedly torn his biceps muscle in training
But the 35-year-old is believed to have torn a biceps muscle, ruling him out against Tszyu.
Their slated showdown was to have been a non-world title fight.
It is hoped No Limit Boxing boss George Rose will reach a deal for Tszyu, the undefeated WBO super welterweight champion, to take on Fundora instead.
Nicknamed the ‘Towering Inferno,’ Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) is slated to fight Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC super middleweight belt on the same March 30 card.
Fundora – who stands an imposing 197cm tall – defeated 2016 Australian Olympian Daniel Lewis in Las Vegas on a unanimous points decision in 2020.
The Aussie junior middleweight world champion (pictured, right, on his way to victory over Brian Mendoza) is now desperately trying to find a stand-in so the March 30 bout goes ahead
BoxingScene in the US is reporting that negotiations were underway to finalise Tszyu-Fundora, with an official saying it could even be stamped as a unified title fight with both the WBO and WBC belts on the line.
Fundora’s last bout saw him suffer a round-seven knockout loss to Brian Mendoza last April.
In contrast, Tszyu won a clear-cut unanimous points decision over Mendoza when they clashed on the Gold Coast last October.
