Errol Spence Jr. vs Tim Tszyu Preview July 25th, 2026
Former world champion Errol Spence Jr. of Long Island, New York ends a three-year absence from the ring when he travels down to Australia to take on former WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Tim Tzsyu this Saturday, July 25th. In his last contest in July, 2023, Spence lost his WBC, WBA and IBF Welterweight Belts when unbeaten WBO Champion Terence Crawford stopped him in the ninth round. In his previous bout in April, 2022, Spence defended his IBF Title for the sixth time by stopping Yordenis Ugas in the 10th round and also took Ugas’ WBA ‘Super’ Title. Tszyu of Sydney, Australia, last boxed in April when he beat Denis Nurja by a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant WBO International Middleweight Belt. The 12-round middleweight tilt, which takes place Sunday afternoon in Sydney, can be seen live on Showtime PPV in America in prime time on Saturday night. Fans in Australia can see it on Main Event and Kayo Sports.
Spence vs Tszyu Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Errol Spence Jr. -125
- Tim Tszyu -105
My Pick
Spence won the IBF Welterweight Title in May, 2017 when he stopped former champion Kell Brook in England in the 11th round. He defended it by halting Lamont Peterson after seven rounds in 2018 and then stopped Carlos Ocampo in the first round before beating Mikey Garcia by unanimous decision. He then edged Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia by split and unanimous decisions respectively before stopping Ugas for the WBA version. He also picked up the WBC Belt in the win over Porter. The 36-year-old southpaw will enter the ring with an impressive record of 28-1 with 22 Kos with the loss to Crawford being his lone defeat.
Spence stepped up in class for the first time as a pro when meeting Chris Algieri in 2017 after previously beating opponents such as Phil Lo Greco, Chris van Heerden, Samuel Vargas and Alejandro Barrera. He’s boxed 151 rounds since turning pro in 2012 and has a wealth of amateur experience. He competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England and won the 2009, 2010 and 2011 USA National Championships and was successful in several other major amateur events. There have been some out-of-the-ring hurdles for Spence to overcome including a serious car crash and a detached retina in 2019.
At just over 5-feet-9-inches tall, Spence isn’t that tall for a middleweight but he does have a 72-inch reach. He possesses very good speed and power as 78.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage despite not being regarded as a one-punch knockout artist. He had won 11 straight fights by way of stoppage until Mikey Garcia took him the distance in March, 2019. However he’s stopped just teo of his past five opponents. Spence has a fine jab and will be trying to establish it before unleashing his power shots against Tzsyu.
The Tszyu name is well known in boxing as Tim is the son of former world champion Kostya Tszyu and the brother of Nikita Tszyu. The 31-year-old climbs into the ring with a mark of 27-3 with 18 Ko’s and stands just under 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70.5-inch. Therefore he gives up an inch in height to Spence as well as 1.5-inches in reach. He also possesses better-than-average power as 66.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but he has has gone the distance in six of his last 10 fights and has lost three of his past six.
In March, 2024 Sebastian Fundora took Tszyu’s WBO Junior Middleweight Title via split decision in a bloody battle. Tszyu was then stopped in the seventh round by Bakhram Murtazaliev in his next fight in a shot at the IBF Title. His third defeat was also to Fundora, when he was halted after seven rounds in their rematch last July. Between his loss to Murtazaliev and his second defeat to Sebastian Fundora, Tzsyu bounced back to halt Joseph Spencer in the fourth round to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Junior Middleweight Bout.
Tszyu has boxed 175 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 following a good amateur career and has also captured the interim WBA Oceania, WBO Asia Pacific, WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental, IBF Australasian, Commonwealth, WBO Global, and Australian Super Welterweight Titles since turning pro. His first step up in class came in August, 2020 when he stopped former world champion Jeff Horn in the seventh round.
He then halted former world champion Tony Harrison in the ninth round in March, 2023 to claim the Interim WBO Title and was elevated to full champion when Jermell Charlo was stripped of the belt when he fought Canelo Alvarez. Tszyu has also faced and beat legitimate contenders in Carlos Ocampo, Brian Mendoza, Terrell Gausha and Takeshi Inoue as they fought for world titles in the past and also has wins over the likes of Dennis Hogan, Wade Ryan, Steve Spark, Jack Brubaker, Ruben Webster, Larry Siwu, Denton Vassell, Joel Camilleri and the late Dwight Ritchie.
Prediction…
Spence has fought his career as a welterweight but did weigh in at 156.5 lbs once in his career. That was back in 2015 against Chris van Heerden. This fight against Tszyu was originally supposed to be fought at a catchweight of 158 lbs but Spence asked for it to be raised to 160 lbs and Tzsyu agreed. Read into that what you will, but Spence could possibly be having trouble making the weight. He’s now also working with trainer Ronnie Shields and it’s unknown what the 36-year-old has left in the tank after being away for three years and taking into consideration his injuries. Tzsyu has bounced back after losing a few fights, being stopped twice and losing his world title, but his recent wins were against average opposition. This is a tough fight to call because of all the question marks surrounding Spence. If both boxers were in their prime I’d go with Spence but they’re not, so anything could happen here. In fact a draw wouldn’t be a surprise. Overall though, Spence is, or at least was, the better overall boxer.
Spence’s experience against top-class opposition could be the key.
Play Spence -125 @ BetOnline.ag
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Errol Spence jr betting • Tim Tszyu betting