Tim Tszyu Targets Boxing’s Oldest Champion

Tim Tszyu wants everyone to believe he is on a noble quest to become a two-division champion, but he really just went shopping in the geriatric ward. His target is WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara, an ancient relic who turns 43 soon, has laced up the gloves just twice since May 2022, and last fought two years ago when he stopped Danny Garcia.

Negotiations are nearing the finish line to drag Lara down to Australia this December, with Perth the probable landing spot. Nothing is official yet, but Tszyu is already over in Thailand pretending this is a perilous mission against a Cuban master.

Tszyu claimed to Fights Around The World that he has studied Lara forever, praising the champion as an elusive puzzle who moves brilliantly and brings elite craft.

That description applied a decade ago. It is absolute nonsense today. Lara was an absolute nightmare in his prime, yet pretending a 43-year-old who sat idle for two straight years still possesses those legs is pure promotional theater. Feasting on Michael Zerafa and a faded Danny Garcia proved nothing about what Lara can do when someone actually makes him work.

Tszyu completely ditched the warrior routine the moment Bakhram Murtazaliev battered him inside three rounds. Before that beating, he took real risks against obscure killers. Now his matchmaking is a total con, built on dragging famous names out of mothballs.

First came Errol Spence Jr., dragged up to middleweight as a damaged shell after three years of inactivity. Now Tszyu wants Lara, who will be collecting a pension by the opening bell.

This is not bold ambition. It is cynical matchmaking designed to manufacture a two-division champion without daring to look at the uncrowned king at 160 pounds, Yoenli Hernandez. Tszyu wants the shine of a middleweight belt, but he wants zero part of a prime Cuban monster like Hernandez, who would rip right through him. He prefers old names with zero tread left on the tires.

Even a faded Lara brings danger because Tszyu remains fundamentally flawed. Tszyu still walks forward like a statue, stuck behind a rigid high guard with zero head movement. That upright posture is tailor-made for Lara to shoot his laser straight left-right through the center. Murtazaliev exposed those defensive craters with crude power, while Sebastian Fundora proved Tszyu cannot solve basic range.

If Tszyu follows Lara around instead of cutting off the ring, the old Cuban will slide back two inches and smack him in the mouth for the first four rounds.

The problem for Lara is biology. Counterpunching at the elite level requires twitch reflexes, lightning eyes, and legs that can bounce for thirty-six minutes. Those attributes vanish after forty, especially coming off a two-year layoff. Tszyu does not have to outbox him. He just has to march forward, hammer Lara to the ribs, and make an old man fight at a pace his body abandoned years ago.

Lara has always been stingy with his punch output. He likes to throw one clean counter, step away, and admire his work. Trying that routine as a visiting fighter in Australia is pure ring suicide.

Tszyu will be lumbering forward, missing half his shots, yet the local crowd will erupt at every glove tap. Australian judges notoriously favor optics over clean defense. Lara can land the crisper punches all night, but if he only throws twenty a round, he will get robbed blind on the scorecards. Unless the grandfather somehow finds the power to put Tszyu flat on his back, the rounds will automatically slide to the local draw.

Tszyu keeps shouting names like Jermell Charlo, Xander Zayas, Conor Benn, and Chris Eubank Jr., pretending he is staging a grand world tour. That fantasy talk fools nobody. He chose Lara because Lara possesses a belt and cannot run anymore.

Grabbing that strap will not make Tszyu the man at 160 pounds. It will simply expose him as a paper champion holding stolen goods, right in the crosshairs of prime threats like Hernandez, who will be licking their chops. Tszyu is not chasing the best middleweight alive. He is hunting the oldest man with a title belt in his closet.

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