Tim Tszyu says this one is personal with the Australian superstar pledging to put Sebastian Fundora in his place and join his Hall of Fame father as a multiple world boxing champion.
While Fundora is doing his best to play down any animosity between the sluggers, Tszyu is livid about the American’s camp questioning his integrity ahead of the pair’s world-title rematch in Las Vegas on Saturday night [Sunday AEST].
Tszyu has maintained for 16 months he fought Fundora for 10 rounds bloodied and half-blinded after copping an errant elbow from the ‘Towering Inferno’ and rupturing an artery in his head.
Tszyu has been universally lauded for his courage in boxing on through the potentially fatal injury.
But Fundora lit the fuse for an explosive return bout when he claimed last week, then doubled down on Thursday, that he looked Tszyu square in the eye and could see the Sydney slayer fighting, from his view, unaffected.
So peeved is Tszyu that the 30-year-old former WBO super-welterweight champion says winning a second world title is secondary to taking Fundora out.
Tim Tszyu gears up for revenge, promising to silence Fundora and reclaim his place at the top
Tszyu hasn’t forgotten the elbow, the blood, or the disbelief that followed his first loss in Vegas
‘It’s not the belt. It’s Fundora,’ Tszyu said at the official pre-fight press conference at the MGM Grand.
‘Belts come and go. But to beat someone who you have a history with, the fact it was my first loss, to rewrite that history, that’s the challenge.’
Tszyu is also seriously annoyed about Fundora denying his nose was broken earlier in the opening round of the first-up bloodbath in Vegas.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission ordered Fundora not to fight for six months, yet the 26-year-old on Thursday claimed there was no such break.
‘I don’t know why they’re lying,’ Tszyu said.
‘It must be his dad. Could be Sampson (Lewkowicz, Fundora’s agent). Who knows.
‘But we all saw it. He had blood pissing down, was breathing out of his mouth. It’s facts.’
Despite Tszyu’s own horrific injury, the son of a gun only lost last year’s first encounter on a split decision after being awarded the contest by one of the three judges.
Fundora denies Tszyu’s injury claims, sparking fury ahead of their high-stakes rematch in Las Vegas
Despite a split-decision loss, Tszyu believes Fundora’s version of events shows disrespect and a lack of honesty
‘I still got the win,’ Fundora said on Thursday.
‘Still went home with two titles.’
Living up to his old-school boxing warrior reputation, Tszyu returned to the ring barely six months later only to endure a brutal loss to Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev in Florida last October.
Tszyu can’t quite comprehend Fundora’s confidence.
‘He’s got some sort of cockiness around him now,’ he told AAP when asked about his brave front.
‘His vibe has changed. He’s walking around like Superman.
‘Relax, you’re not Superman.’
In another intriguing sub-plot to their sequel, Fundora stripped Tszyu of his WBO belt after Fundora had been knocked out by compatriot Brian Mendoza – six months after Tszyu claimed the title with a thunderous victory over Mendoza on the Gold Coast.
‘He’s been saying I’ve got PTSD,’ Tszyu said.
‘But I feel he has PTSD from what Mendoza did to him. I feel like he still thinks about it.
‘To be knocked out cold like that, it takes a bit out of you.
‘Even though I was stopped by Bakhram [Murtazaliev], I made sure to get back up each time.
‘He wasn’t up. He was gone.’
