Tszyu Confirms His Cut Has Healed Before His IBF Title Fight

Tim Tszyu has reassured fans that his cut is fully healed as he prepares to face IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Bakhram Murtazaliev. 

Tszyu has his first fight since losing to Sebastian Fundora in March. He dominated in the earlier rounds before an accidental collision with Fundora’s elbow above his hairline resulted in a big gash. It continued to bleed. Tim’s corner had to make a decision over whether to stop the bout. They decided to continue as Tszyu lost a split decision. In his post-fight comments, the Australian admitted that his vision was hampered by bleeding.

He missed out on becoming the WBO and WBC Junior Middleweight Champion, suffering the first defeat of his career. It was a massive setback since he was targeting potential fights against Terrence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. He was set to face Virgil Ortiz Jr. in August, as a deal had been agreed. However, Tszyu pulled out after confirming that his cut had not healed. This raised question marks over whether the Australian would fight again this year. But now that he will face Murtazaliev, he has reassured fans that his cut is fine.

Tszyu On His Cut

“[I feel] Perfect, one word. Looking back at it I think it did. There was plenty of emotions, I guess, running through. Blindsided. You’re constantly thinking about the cut rather than thinking about the fight. When it first happened I knew it wasn’t a normal cut, something that I’ve had before, what anyone has had before. This was something different because as soon as I put my head down, I remember the fountain of blood rushing. The amount of blood that was coming in, I couldn’t see,” Tszyu said 

Nevertheless, there are other factors to bear in mind. Tyson Fury also suffered a cut before he took on Oleksandr Usyk. He was meant to fight the Ukrainian in February, but a cut in sparring prevented that from happening as he took on the Ukrainian in May. Fury suffered a split decision loss as Usyk became the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. That was the first loss of his career in his biggest fight. Since then, his coach, Andy Lee, confirmed that Fury could not spar.

This was over fear that the cut would reopen. That could have played a part in the fight since Fury did get the upper hand during the middle rounds. However, he could not press home the advantage, as he allowed Usyk to come back into the fight. The Ukrainian almost knocked out Fury in the ninth round before the referee imposed a standing eight count.

Worries Over The Cut

Lee has said things will be different this time. Tim may face similar problems if his preparation has been compromised. However, given that the cut took place in March, it has taken approximately seven months to heal. That may be enough time for Tim to feel fully confident. However, it will all depend on how he reacts once he is hit with punches. Tsyzu had eyes on bigger fights. 

“Yeah, 100%. The PBC roster is big and there’s plenty of fights to be made. There’s the Charlo’s, the Errol Spence’s. There you go. There’s plenty of fights to be made. You know me. I’m not here to sit down and wait. I’m here to take fights. It’s like John Wick. Hitlist and just take them out,” Tsyzu added