Tim Tszyu will make the first defence of his WBO super welterweight title, and possibly add another belt to his collection, when he takes on Brian Mendoza on Sunday, October 15.
As has been the case with his past two bouts, this fight will take place on Sunday afternoon in Australia, allowing for a primetime Saturday night broadcast on Showtime in the US.
The Aussie superstar was supposed to be fighting in America by now but his long-awaited meeting with Jermell Charlo has eluded him to date.
Instead he’ll face off with interim WBC champion Mendoza, although there is hope the bout will be an opportunity to unify the full titles. Venue and ticket details will be announced in the coming weeks.
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Tim Tszyu set to take on Brian Mendoza in Australia
In a statement released on Thursday, Tszyu said he was excited to step into ring with one of the world's best.
“I’m expecting a war and I’m expecting Mendoza to test me more than any other fighter," he said.
"He has power in both hands and has shown he thrives off being that underdog, so I doubt coming to Australia will bother him but don’t expect a single person to be cheering for him.
“This was the fight to be made and the only fight that had me pumped up.
"Styles make fights and it has the potential to be a banger because we both go looking for the fight, have heavy hands and chase those killer knockouts everyone loves to replay over, and over, and over again.”
“The road to undisputed continues, it’s just going to take a little longer. But trust me, the journey to get there will be way sweeter.”
Tszyu won the interim WBO title when defeating Tony Harrison in March before he defended the strap against Carlos Ocampo in June.
With Charlo opting to move up two weight classes for a blockbuster fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez rather than defend his 154-pound titles against Tszyu, the WBO announced their intention to strip the American.
In a statement earlier this month, the WBO confirmed Charlo would remain their super welterweight champion until the Canelo bout, allowing the fight to be billed as “undisputed versus undisputed”, after which he’ll be stripped and Tszyu will be elevated to full champion.
The WBC is yet to confirm how they will handle the situation.
Mendoza won the interim belt when he knocked out Sebastian Fundora back in April, seeing the 29-year-old American improve to 22-2 with 16 knockouts.
The WBC are being lobbied to follow the WBO’s lead and elevate Mendoza to full champion, giving either man the chance to walk away with two of the division’s four titles when he faces Tszyu.
It’s been an impressive turnaround for Mendoza who has won three on the trot since a difficult stretch which saw him lose twice in three fights.
The first win on his three-fight run coincidentally came on the same card as Tszyu’s US debut.
Shortly after Tszyu rallied back from a flash first-round knockdown to score a unanimous decision win over Terrell Gausha, Mendoza fought in a non-televised, “walkout” bout in front of virtually no one as The Armory in Minneapolis cleared out and the crew began packing up.
Just three appearances later, he’ll be fighting Tszyu on enemy soil in a world title unification bout.
