About three weeks ago, Tim Tszyu announced that his return to action would be a September 22nd IBF final eliminator and named Erickson Lubin as the probably opponent. That wound up falling though due to a hand injury on Lubin’s part, with “Hammer” adding that they’d agreed to fight in December instead.
Those plans may need to be adjusted, as Dan Rafael reports that the IBF has elected to skip the eliminator and just order Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO) to meet super welterweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KO). The two have until September 5th to come to terms.
The timing seems tight to fight Murtazaliev in September, but there’s theoretically nothing stopping Tszyu from putting together an end-of-year title shot and keeping the date with a stay-busy fight. He’s no stranger to putting his mandatory status on the line, notably defeating Tony Harrison and Carlos Ocampo while waiting for Jermell Charlo to fulfill his obligation.
We’ll see how this one plays out.