Eddie Hearn believes Tim Tszyu is about to throw the dice one final time in his pursuit of boxing’s biggest prizes.
Which is exactly why the Matchroom Boxing boss says he “loves” the Aussie’s blockbuster showdown with Errol Spence Jnr.
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Speaking with Fox Sports Australia ahead of next week’s Sydney headliner, Hearn praised No Limit for putting together a fight with such enormous stakes.
While Tszyu is attempting to complete his remarkable resurgence following world title defeats to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev, Spence is trying to prove he remains at the top after three years out of the ring.
For Hearn, that’s a great recipe.
“I think it’s a very interesting fight,” he said.
“Errol Spence has been out of the ring for over two years.
“He’s been through a lot in his career. Obviously, he had that major car crash. He had the eye injury as well.
“But he’s a hell of a fighter, and on paper he beats Tim Tszyu like nine times out of 10.
“But he’s not an in-form Errol Spence. He’s not an active Errol Spence – and Tim Tszyu is a great fighter.
“Tim’s very, very tough. I don’t think he’s an elite world level guy, but he’s a world class fighter, no doubt.
“And he’s got Jeff Fenech there now. He’s extremely motivated. He’s got home advantage.
“It really is his last roll of the dice.
“I love the fight. I think it’s a really intriguing, interesting fight.
“If Errol Spence is still the fighter that he once was, I think he wins. But if he’s not, he’s going to have his hands full against a very game strong Tim Tszyu.”
Hearn was also full of praise for Liam Paro after the Queenslander defeated his Matchroom fighter Lewis Crocker to become a two-division world champion.
Paro outworked Crocker over 12 rounds in Brisbane, producing a performance Hearn said deserved widespread recognition.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Liam Paro because he beat [Subriel] Matias in Puerto Rico,” said Hearn.
“He then won the championship to become a two division world champion.
“I hope that he gets his flowers from the Australian people, because it’s a rare achievement.
“I thought that Lewis Crocker just needed to do a little bit more earlier in the fight and if it was a 15-round fight, he would have won.
“But it wasn’t. It was a 12-round fight and Paro held on at the end.
“I thought he was the deserved winner.”
Despite the loss, Hearn is already plotting another crack at Paro.
Irish star Paddy Donovan is now the mandatory challenger for the Australian and Matchroom is determined to push for a world title fight as soon as possible.
“Now Paddy Donovan, our other welterweight, is the mandatory challenger for Liam Paro,” said Hearn.
“I expect Liam Paro to try and squeeze a fight in before [Donovan] because he’s going to want to try and land a big name.
“But it was a bad cut that he got as well, so I think he’s going to be out for a while.
“Obviously, our job now is to be pushing Donovan and make sure he gets his shot at the world title ASAP.”
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Hearn also discussed another potential Australian blockbuster involving one of his biggest stars.
Asked about the possibility of Nikita Tszyu eventually sharing the ring with unbeaten pound-for-pound superstar Jaron “Boots” Ennis, the promoter admitted it was a fight he’d happily make down the track.
“I rate Nikita. I think he’s a great fighter,” he said.
“Obviously, he’s a million miles away from Boots Ennis and that kind of level at the moment.
“But I do believe he can go on and be a world class fighter.
“In my opinion, you need to start stepping him up at world level to prepare him for the challenges ahead.
“Boots has just proved himself as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport.
“I like the opportunity to potentially bring Boots around the world, which is going to be important to his profile if there’s a chance to defend his titles in Australia, and the money’s there for him to fight Nikita Tszyu.
“I’m sure he’d [Ennis] would be up for that as well.”