Tim Tszyu’s return to the ring has been put on ice with his world-title fight against American Vergil Ortiz Jr. cancelled on medical advice.
Tszyu was set to return to the United States to fight on a blockbuster card in Los Angeles on August 3 (local time) headlined by pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford.
The clash with undefeated knockout specialist Ortiz was for the WBA super welterweight interim world title, with Tszyu taking preparations off-shore and training with his legendary father Kostya in Thailand this month.
But Tszyu has been advised to stay out of the ring to give his head wound more time to heal, suffering the injury against American Sebastian Fundora in late March.
The Australian relinquished his WBO super-welterweight belt to Fundora in a controversial split-decision defeat in Las Vegas.
Tszyu walked into the Towering Inferno’s elbow late in round two and suffered a gruesome head gash.
Tszyu battled on without full vision for 10 rounds and was even awarded a 116-112 victory by one of the judges.
The Californian is also out of the ring until at least September after having facial surgery after the fight.
No Limit CEO George Rose said Tszyu was frustrated by the latest setback.
“We are bitterly disappointed with the setback and Tim is extremely frustrated after a great pre-camp with Kostya,” Rose said in a statement on Friday.
“He showed everyone that he’ll fight through anything against Fundora but this decision was taken out of his hands to be honest.
“Ultimately, it was his body and medical professionals telling him he wasn’t ready yet.”
The WBO has sanctioned the Crawford-Israil Madrimov bout as an interim title fight, with the winner set to be next in line to face Fundora.
The management of Fundora said they would honour a verbal rematch agreement before the WBO stepped in to put that on the backburner.
