Twist after Tszyu's opponent withdraws from Vegas bout

UPDATED: Australian boxer Tim Tszyu will fight for two world title belts despite his original Las Vegas opponent withdrawing from their bout.

Tszyu was due to fight American Keith Thurman in Vegas on March 31 (AEDT) but the latter injured a biceps during training last week, forcing him to pull out.

It's the second time in 14 months an opponent has withdrawn from what would have been Tszyu's Vegas debut. Last January it was Jermell Charlo who broke his hand just weeks before their fight for all the belts.

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Tszyu will now fight Sebastian Fundora , as confirmed by Australian promoters No Limit Boxing on Tuesday.https://twitter.com/Tim_Tszyu/status/1769843190293807370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

And in a surprise twist there will now be two belts on the line.

Tszyu had already put his WBO junior middleweight title on the table against Thurman. Now he and Fundora will compete for that, as well as the WBC title.

It was January 2023 when Tszyu's much-hyped Vegas debut was cancelled when then-division champion Charlo broke a hand in training.

Tszyu has since assumed the WBO title and beaten Tony Harrison, Carlos Ocampo, and Brian Mendoza all in convincing fashion to maintain his unbeaten record from 24 fights.

Fundora, 26, boasts a 20-1-1 record and held the WBC interim light middleweight title for a few months before losing it last year.

Fundora is known as "The Towering Inferno" and stands at a daunting 197 centimetres tall. Tszyu is 175cm.

After the Thurman news early on Tuesday morning it was feared Tszyu's bout would be canned altogether.

But, luckily, Fundora has stepped in to fill the void.

While considered one of - if not the - best junior middleweights on the planet, Tszyu has only fought outside Australia once.

That was a unanimous decision win over Terrell Gausha in Minneapolis in March 2022.