HE Turki Alalshikh‘s first endeavor outside Saudi Arabia has met with an early setback. Tim Tszyu has his comeback fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr. derailed. The Australian fighter had signed up to feature on the lucrative Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov undercard. But it seems the scars from his last battle were too deep to heal this soon.

Tszyu, 29, was coming off a close split decision loss against Sebastian Fundora, where he dropped his WBO light middleweight title. While he had started the fight strongly, the challenger’s elbow opened a cut on his head. That turned out to be the turning point of the fight as blood continued to gush down his face, which impaired his vision and kept his one hand busy. Many believed ‘The Soul Taker’ had done enough to bag the win, but the judges saw the fight differently. It seems his miseries have yet to end, as he withdrew from the August 3 fight.

Tim Tszyu pulls out of the Vergil Ortiz Jr. showdown

Dan Rafael turned to his X handle and broke the unfortunate news to the fans. He pointed out that the doctors dissuaded Tszyu, at 24-1, from entering the squared circle this early as he had yet to recover from the nasty cut.

Rafael wrote, “Per source, Tim Tszyu has been forced to withdraw from his Aug. 3 fight vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr. on the #CrawfordMadrimov mega card being put on by @Turki_alalshikh in LA. Doc ruled him out due to terrible cut suffered vs. Fundora not being healed enough for him to fight.”

This has left the fans in a tight spot, as they were eagerly waiting for the exciting fight between two knockout artists. So, they put themselves in playmakers’ shoes and pitched the names of those they thought could replace the Sydney native.

Fans try to play matchmaker for Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov

A fan called Tszyu’s pull-out “unfortunate,” as they were excited about the middleweight boxer’s comeback. But it had only been two months since Tszyu entered the boxing ring last. They admitted, “Unfortunate news, I was really looking forward to seeing Tszyu’s return.”

A user wondered how the organizers could call off the fight when a couple of months still separated the fight. They declared, “How can they call it already with months left?”

Someone believed the cut was too deep to heal this quickly but they were still disappointed as the fight offered guaranteed fireworks. They announced frustratingly, “Damn man I knew it that gash was too deep to heal that fast smh I was low key looking forward to that fight over all of them.”

A comment tried to insert Jermell Charlo as a replacement. The two share a history, as Tszyu was Charlo’s WBO title mandatory, and when ‘Iron Man’ decided to fight Canelo Alvarez instead, the sanctioning body stripped him and elevated Tszyu as the champion. The comment read, “Jermell vs Vergil lets see it.”

Similarly, another fan picked Serhii Bohachuk, who is the current interim WBC light middleweight title holder. They said, “Or Ortiz Jr vs Bohachuk yes please!”

Lastly, someone believed the fight was booked prematurely, without giving Tszyu a proper chance to heal and train. They expressed, “Soon as it was announced I said the fight seems too soon, damn.”

Notably, Tszyu and Fundora’s fight contract didn’t include a rematch clause, as the latter was inserted in place of Keith Thurman. Therefore, he has to work his way to the top now. Meanwhile, Fundora has vacated the WBO strap and is in talks to fight Errol Spence Jr. now to bag a heavy paycheck.

What do you make of this update about Tim Tszyu on the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov card? Do you think he should fight upon his comeback to the ring? Let us know in the comments below.