- Pair was scheduled to face each other on March 30 in Las Vegas
- Thurman was a former unified welterweight champion
- Tszyu’s last fight was a win over Brian Mendoza
Tim Tszyu’s planned debut in Las Vegas is in doubt after American Keith Thurman was forced to leave the pay-per-view blockbuster due to a training injury.
Team Tszyu is trying to find a replacement, with Sebastian Fundora as the frontrunner, so that the main act can continue on March 30 at the T-Mobile Arena.
Thurman, a former welterweight champion, has fought just once since losing to Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.
He scored a unanimous points victory over Mario Barrios in February 2022.
Thurman (pictured left with Tszyu when their fight was announced in February) reportedly tore his biceps muscle during training
But the 35-year-old is believed to have torn a biceps muscle, ruling him out against Tszyu.
Their planned showdown would have been a non-world title fight.
It is hoped that No Limit Boxing boss George Rose will agree a deal for Tszyu, the undefeated WBO super welterweight champion, to face Fundora instead.
Nicknamed the ‘Towering Inferno’, Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) will fight Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC super middleweight title on the same March 30 card.
Fundora – who stands a whopping 197cm tall – defeated 2016 Australian Olympian Daniel Lewis in Las Vegas by unanimous points decision in 2020.
The Aussie junior middleweight world champion (pictured right, en route to victory over Brian Mendoza) is now desperately trying to find a replacement, so the March 30 fight will go ahead
BoxingScene in the US reports that negotiations were underway to finalize Tszyu-Fundora, with one official saying it could even be labeled as a unified title fight with both the WBO and WBC titles at stake.
In Fundora’s last fight, he suffered a seventh-round knockout loss to Brian Mendoza last April.
In contrast, Tszyu won a clear unanimous points decision over Mendoza when they clashed on the Gold Coast last October.