Tim Tszyu did what he needed to do on Easter Sunday at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, Australia, shutting out previously unbeaten Denis Nurja over ten rounds to clear the final contractual hurdle standing between him and a summer collision with Errol Spence Jr.

All three judges scored the bout 100-88 in favor of Tszyu, who overcame a significant cut under his left eye caused by a headbutt in the fourth round to cruise to a lopsided victory on the PBC on Prime Video card. The fourth round proved the most eventful, as Tszyu caught Nurja with a left hook that put the Albanian on the canvas shortly after the cut opened. In the closing seconds of the final round, Tszyu dislodged Nurja’s mouthpiece with a heavy right hand, punctuating the shutout.

Tszyu, now 27-3 with 18 knockouts, did not wait long to turn his attention to bigger game. Speaking immediately after the fight, he issued a direct challenge to Spence through a post shared by Premier Boxing Champions.

“Me and Errol Spence is gonna be one helluva fight,” Tszyu said. “It’s a banger. You know how I am. I don’t take a backwards step. So if he wants to meet me at the front, bring it on.” He added the line that quickly circulated across social media: “You know what they say: Catch the big fish. Let’s go fishing.”

Spence responded shortly after with a blunt reply on X: “You think shit sweet I’m do you so bad!” The message from the former unified welterweight champion, who has not fought since his ninth round stoppage loss to Terence Crawford in July 2023, left little ambiguity about his intentions. After nearly three years of silence, Spence appears ready to return.

A Deal Already in Place

While no official announcement has been made, multiple reports indicate the fight is effectively a done deal for mid-2026, with the bout expected to headline a PBC on Prime Video pay per view. ESPN reported in February that the fight was being targeted for either June 6 or June 13 at a venue in Australia to be determined, marking Spence’s debut at 154 pounds.

The venue question remains fluid. AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, has emerged as the frontrunner, though Sydney has also been discussed if promoters can meet the financial conditions required to bring Spence to Australia. Tszyu, who has fought almost exclusively in his home country since his loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev in October 2024, would benefit enormously from a home crowd. Spence, meanwhile, has headlined at AT&T Stadium multiple times and would draw a strong gate on Texas soil.

The cut Tszyu sustained against Nurja could introduce a timing wrinkle. “This time we won with the cut,” Tszyu said postgame. “Can’t complain.” But lacerations around the eye require adequate healing time, and a premature return to camp could jeopardize the summer window entirely. As BoxingScene’s Jason Langendorf noted, the cut will require time to heal and could make a summer date too ambitious.

The Questions Surrounding Spence

For all the focus on Tszyu’s form, the more compelling uncertainty resides in the Spence camp. The 36 year old Texan has not set foot in a competitive ring since Crawford dropped him three times and forced a stoppage in their undisputed welterweight championship bout. Since that night, Spence has undergone cataract surgery on his right eye, parted ways with longtime trainer Derrick James, and largely disappeared from public view.

The rebuild has been gradual. Roy Jones Jr. flew to Dallas late last year to work with Spence privately, and came away encouraged. “He looked good, very good to me,” Jones told Ring Magazine. “I seen that glow in him again.” Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, who trains Caleb Plant and Julian Williams, has also been spotted working with Spence in Philadelphia, though Edwards was careful not to overstate the arrangement.

The move to 154 pounds is perhaps the most significant variable. Spence spent the latter half of his welterweight career grinding himself down to make 147, and the physical toll was visible against both Yordenis Ugas and Crawford. A hydrated, natural junior middleweight version of Spence could look markedly different. Then again, nearly three years of inactivity at age 36 is its own kind of damage, regardless of weight class.

Crawford Weighs In

Terence Crawford, the man who beat both fighters’ names into the conversation, offered his assessment during a promotional visit to Australia last week. “I’ve got Errol,” Crawford told media members in Rockdale. “I think it’d be a good fight for both of them at this stage of their careers. I’m not 100 percent confident. I just know the caliber of fighter that Errol is, just like I know the caliber of fighter Tim is. I think both of them have taken a lot of damage in their career so far, but I just think Errol, skills-wise, just edges it.”

Crawford also had pointed criticism of Tszyu’s corner work during his first loss to Sebastian Fundora, the March 2024 bloodbath that marked the beginning of Tszyu’s rough stretch. “On the first fight with Fundora, Tim had him,” Crawford said. “They should have stopped that fight. That was bad coaching.”

Where This Fight Fits

Neither man enters this matchup from a position of dominance. Tszyu has been fighting his way back from a turbulent two year stretch in which he went 2-3, losing his WBO title to Fundora, getting demolished in three rounds by Murtazaliev, and then quitting on his stool in a Fundora rematch. His wins over Joey Spencer and Anthony Velazquez were necessary but did not answer the hard questions about his durability at the highest level. The Nurja performance was efficient without being emphatic. He controlled every round but could not put away a fighter most of the boxing world had never heard of.

Spence’s return carries a different set of risks. His final two welterweight performances raised uncomfortable questions about his reflexes, his legs, and the cumulative effect of a 2019 car accident that nearly killed him. A fight at 154 removes one variable, the weight cut, but introduces another: a division populated by bigger, fresher punchers than the ones he dominated in his prime.

What makes the fight commercially viable is precisely what makes it difficult to handicap. Two former champions, both carrying damage, both needing validation, meeting at a crossroads where the margin between resurrection and confirmation of decline is razor thin. Spence’s technical toolkit, the southpaw jab, the body attack, the composed pressure, was elite when his body cooperated. Tszyu’s right hand and willingness to engage in a phone booth remain dangerous, particularly against a fighter returning from the longest layoff of his career.

The Nurja fight was supposed to be the final box to check. Tszyu checked it. Now the real test begins, assuming the cut heals and Spence makes it through a full camp without setback. If this fight happens this summer, it will tell us something definitive about both men. That is more than most matchups at this level can promise.