Tim Tszyu Is The Linchpin To Potentially Legendary 154 lb. Era

A crazy amount of talent has amassed in the junior middleweight division at the moment and there’s the potential for a historic run of excellent-to-legendary fights.

Just taking a casual look, the 154 lb. class has Terence Crawford, Sebastian Fundora, Tim Tszyu, Jermell Charlo, Vergil Ortiz, Israil Madrimov, Serhii Bohachuk, Charles Conwell, Erickson Lubin, and Jesus Ramos (among others). And that’s completely discounting the fact that welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis may be up there before too long and that Errol Spence is said to be eyeing a return to the ring at 154.

All things considered, there’s also a crazy amount of parity at the top of the division, with a legit “anyone can beat anyone on any given night” dynamic all throughout the upper ranks.

But the linchpin to everything moving the way it should may very well be Tszyu.

The former WBO junior middleweight champ is returning to the ring on October 19, headlining the first PBC on Amazon Prime “free” card, challenging for the 154 lb. IBF world title held by Bakhram Murtazaliev.

And why is Tszyu the key to everything?

Because he’s, pretty much literally, in the middle of everything.

While not exactly a free agent, Tszyu is free enough to do whatever he wants and go wherever he feels he needs to be. And, as a fighter under the PBC umbrella, he’s also afforded the flexibility to take the fights that make sense for his goal of ascending to the top of the entire class.

At the moment, however, it just so happens that the best options for him rest right within the PBC family, with the IBF title fight upcoming and a rumored bout with Erickson Lubin coming sometime after. Then there’s a crack at the winner of Fundora-Crawford, which may very well turn out to be Fundora vs. ??? if Crawford decides to pass on the two-belt championship fight in pursuit of a Canelo Alvarez payout. There’s also the outside chance of finally getting his shot against once upon a time unified 154 lb. champ Jermell Charlo.

Going the PBC route, there’s a path to becoming a three-belt junior middleweight champ and also a direct path to avenging his lone career defeat, which came via a somewhat asterisked decision against Fundora this past March in a bout where the Australian was disadvantaged by a deep gash on his scalp that gushed blood into his eyes and face from the second round on,

But if Tszyu doesn’t stick with PBC, there’s still a path to big fights and title unification.

Moving over to the Saudi/Turki Alalshikh side of the business, there’s a possible fight with WBC interim champ Vergil Ortiz (that was once in the making) and one with Terence Crawford, who currently has the WBA belt. There are also meaningful fights to be had against Madrimov and Bohachuk.

Saudi point man Alalshikh said that he’d no longer work with Tszyu after the second-generation star, apparently, spurned his matchmaking advances not too long ago. But big money for big fights has a way of mending fences and soothing hurt feelings.

There’s actually a real possibility that Tszyu could enjoy the best of both worlds, fighting on one side and then on the other as opportunities arise. The 29-year-old has the name, the fan-friendly style, and the growing star power to be the guy getting most of the calls in a division bursting with talent and in search of big fights.

Of course, he has to keep winning in order for all of this to happen. That’s the hard part.