Welcome to Fox Sports Australia’s combat sports column Fighting Words, where we give you all the latest news and views in MMA and boxing, from Australia and abroad.
American boxing great Paulie Malignaggi says Tim Tszyu has proved “too brave” with some of his fight decisions in the past, and warns Australia’s longtime pay-per-view king is taking another huge risk Easter Sunday.
As part of preparations for his impending showdown with US megastar Errol Spence Jnr, Tszyu has decided to roll the dice and take something of a warm up bout against undefeated Albanian Denis Nurja (20-0).
Fundora vs Thurman | Sunday 29 March from 11am AEDT | WBC Super Welterweight World Champion Sebastian Fundora will return to the ring looking to continue his 154-pound reign against the former unified world champion Keith Thurman. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Speaking this week about Tszyu’s April 5 showdown, Malignaggi reminded how the former world champ has fallen after taking some big risks in the past – including his shock world title losses against both Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev.
“Tim has always been a guy who takes risks,” the former two-division champion said.
“When you think about the risk he took fighting Fundora on three weeks’ notice, switching from a welterweight opponent to a 6’6 southpaw, that was almost too extreme.
“He’s almost too brave.
“But this fight is a different kind of risk.
“You have a megafight potentially locked away, yet you’re still facing an undefeated opponent who is coming to win because a victory would catapult him to the world-class level.
“At the same time there are benefits (for Tszyu also).
“He is building chemistry with a technical trainer in Pedro Diaz.
“Back-to-back training camps against undefeated fighters also keeps him sharp and allows him to really master the technical work.”
Despite the undeniable risks however, Malignaggi added that Nurja was the right fight to ready Tszyu for Spence.
“I think for starters it keeps him sharp and keeps him working with his new team,” he continued. “That builds confidence in the gym.
“Even without the opponent, it’s important for Tim just to get confidence back by being in camp and increasing the chemistry he has with Pedro Diaz and the trainers.
“You also don’t want to go into an Errol Spence fight cold with no warm-ups.
“Nor do you want to go in fighting cupcake-type opponents that won’t prepare you for the mental and physical pushback of a tough fight.
“There is always a certain hunger in an undefeated fighter. They have something to protect.
“And Nurja’s been a road warrior.
“He’s won in six different countries, so travelling to Australia won’t be a shock for him.
“Nurja has had to go into some rough territory to build his record … (and) that experience of fighting in hostile environments may help him when he walks into a partisan crowd against a fan favourite like Tim.”
Why is Tim Tszyu taking this fight?! | 02:00
‘BRING YOUR BOOTS?’: DRAGONS’ OFFER TO NAS
Nelson Asofa-Solomona shocked St George Illawarra players when he dropped in, unannounced, on a team training run this week, prompting one senior Dragon to ask: “Did you bring your boots?”
Having walked out on his $800,000-a-year Melbourne Storm contract to box, No Limit’s newest crossover star was in Wollongong this week to promote his upcoming Easter Sunday card – which will be headlined by Australia’s Tim Tszyu.
After finishing up his media commitments at Wollongong Entertainment Centre, the former Storm premiership hero went for a walk around the venue and eventually stumbled on a Dragons training run.
Ironically, the Red V are up against Asofa-Solomona’s old club at WIN Stadium on Saturday night, but coach Shane Flanagan had no issue with ‘Big Nasty’ getting up close with his team’s preparations.
The Dragons were one of several clubs who showed interest in NAS before he decided to walk away from the NRL to box.
HALL OF FAMER SLAMS OPETAIA CHAOS
Oscar De La Hoya has taken the big stick to Dana White over the bizarre, and ongoing, situation involving Australia’s Jai Opetaia and that IBF cruiserweight strap he initially won with a jaw busted in two places.
While Opetaia won the inaugural Zuffa cruiserweight title with White’s new promotion last weekend, the IBF withdrew its own backing just two days before fight night – with the decision still covered in question marks.
Already, White has hinted at legal action, and there are reports suggesting that process may have already begun. The IBF is also said to be reconsidering its decision to strip the belt.
Regardless, De La Hoya took to social media on Friday and, unsurprisingly, the Hall of Famer didn’t hold back.
“So, Jai Opetaia fought over the weekend for what he thought would be an IBF title … only to find out at the press conference that he was lied to by none other than Uncle f***ing Fester and Zuffa.
“So, let me explain. We all know the Zuffa belt is like a participation trophy that’s given to a nine-year-old at the end of a soccer game.
“It has the significance of a haemorrhoid on my f***ing ass.
“And that’s all they agreed it would be in order to get the IBF to participate in the Opetaia fight, until last week at the press conference when Fester and his friends surprised everyone and announced the Zuffa belt as a world title belt.
“These motherf***ers violated rule number five of the IBF.
“After that, the sanction was pulled. Zuffa has no intention of following the IBF rules and used that deception to humiliate them.
“So (the IBF) said ‘f**k this’ and they pulled out. Zuffa lied to everyone the entire time and poor Jai Opetaia suffered because of it.”
White House UFC card confirmed | 02:45
USYK REVEALS ‘FINAL THREE’ OPPONENTS
Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has named the three opponents he will face before retiring.
Usyk will defend his WBC title on May 23 against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in the main event of a unique fight card at the pyramids of Giza.
If Usyk beats Verhoeven, then it will be two Brits in his sights before he hangs up the gloves.
“Rico is first, second is whoever wins between Wardley and Dubois and the third fight is my friend ‘Greedy Belly’, Tyson Fury,” Usyk told Inside The Ring.
The Ukranian who already twice fight, and beaten, Fury, who makes his return from retirement against Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 12.
One notable name that was missing from this list is WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel, who Usyk has been ordered to face following his clash with Verhoeven in Egypt.
TYSON SLAMS TODAY’S BOXERS
Legend Mike Tyson believes the huge payday generated by his bout with Jake Paul is actually a sign the sport is struggling.
The heavyweight icon made a stunning return to the ring at age 58 in late 2024, losing to Jake Paul nearly two decades after his pro career appeared over.
Yet despite being well into his 50s and long removed from the sport’s top level, Tyson’s clash with Paul proved a massive commercial success.
The bout drew millions of viewers worldwide and delivered Tyson an eight-figure payday.
But Tyson believes the fight’s runaway success says more about boxing’s struggles than its strength.
“This is what fighters should be thinking right now… ‘How could this guy be 60 years old and break all the records?’ They should be disappointed with themselves,” Tyson told The Ariel Helwani Show.
“How could this old cat come in here and break all the records? They don’t want to do it…
they fight once or twice a year, no one knows who they are. They need to have a story behind them. People looking up to them and following them.
“It’s not that they’re not getting paid too much. If you get paid for one fight, why not do it three times in a year? It’s a no-lose situation.
“You’re fighting, getting in shape, getting paid. More money than you ever have before.”
Tyson says his exhibition fight against Floyd Mayweather on April 25 will still happen, despite Floyd also booking a rematch with old foe Manny Pacquiao.
AUSSIE BOXING GREAT NOT TEMPTED BY PAC MAN REMATCH
When news broke that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will return from retirement for another professional bout with old rival Manny Pacquiao at the Sphere in Las Vegas this September, there was only one man we had to get on the blower – Nedal Hussein.
The Sydney gym owner, better known to fight fans as “Skinny”, famously shared the ring with Pacquiao in the Philippines back in 2000 for the WBC International super-bantamweight title.
Skinny sensationally dropped the future superstar with a stiff jab – only to watch local referee Carlos Padilla give his countryman an extraordinary 18 seconds to get his wits back.
Skinny never got the result overturned, even after Padilla admitted in 2022 that he had deliberately prolonged the count to help Pac-Man.
Despite that lingering sense of injustice – and the spotlight on Pacquiao right now – Hussein insists he has no desire to lace the gloves up again and fight him.
The Aussie veteran did, however, offer a prediction for the blockbuster rematch.
“If it’s a legitimate fight, I’m picking Floyd to win,” he told Fox Sports Australia.
“Floyd is too smart, too tricky and too good for anything that Manny’s got.
“But if Manny can land that left hand on his chin, that changes the whole game.
“But otherwise I’ve got Floyd doing it pretty comfortably.”
UFC LEGEND MAKES FIRST STATEMENT AFTER PRISON RELEASE
Cain Velasquez has returned home to his family after serving 10 months in prison, with the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion releasing his first public statement since his release.
In 2025, the 43-year-old MMA legend was sentenced to five years for attempted murder following an incident where he fired a gun at a vehicle carrying a man accused of molesting his son.
“Now that it’s been a couple of weeks since my release, I’ve had some time to kind of get back into things,” he said on Thursday.
“Get back into a normal way of life. Get used to just doing the normal things. Being at home with the family. Being there for my kids, and I just wanted to thank everybody for their love and support.
“Your words of inspiration, of encouragement, constantly just lifted me up.”
“You have no idea what your words and your encouragement and your love has meant to me and my family.
“So just thank you. I’ll keep doing the work to get back to everyone and just for myself now, to slowly get back out there.
“I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with the pace of life that I was getting used to now, all of a sudden, a new way of life, a new way of living, a new rhythm.
“So for myself, I just had to get used to it, and I’ve been doing that. Again, thank you – it’s good to be out.”
There’s been an outpouring of support from the combat sports community, with MMA legends Khabib Nurmagomedov and Henry Cejudo among those to respond.
READ MORE COMBAT SPORTS
‘No more games’: UFC legend asks for release after White House war of words
‘We both know who chickened out’: Barbs fly between megastars over ‘ducked’ superfight
FENECH ‘WOULD BE DEAD’ WITHOUT LEWIS, BOXING
Australia’s greatest ever boxer Jeff Fenech says his life could have ended very differently if not for a chance encounter with trainer Johnny Lewis.
Speaking recently on the I Catch Killers podcast, the Hall of Famer and four-time world champion opened up about his troubled upbringing in Sydney’s inner west.
“I was in a street gang that used to go out and have fights,” he said. “At that time, the street violence was really, really bad.
“I was 12, 13 years old and they made an example out of me. Nobody said it was actually me, I just was in the gang, but they locked up quite a few of us, me and my brother included.”
Everything changed when Fenech crossed paths with Lewis at the Newtown Police Boys Club – a meeting that ultimately set him on the path to becoming an icon of the sport.
“It was Johnny Lewis who, I don’t know, had this magnetic force that made people fall in love with him,” Fenech said.
“I certainly wouldn’t be here without boxing, but the reason why I boxed was because of Johnny Lewis.”
Looking back now, Fenech shudders to think what his life might have looked like had he never discovered the sport.
How new training regime changed Tszyu | 07:46
“I don’t know where I’d be,” he said.
“If I was still in jail, I’d be dead today. I’m just blessed that I found the sport that I did.”
UPCOMING FIGHTS ON MAIN EVENT, KAYO
Fundora v Thurman – Sunday, March 29
Chisora v Wilder – Sunday, April 5
Tszyu v Nurja – Sunday, April 5
UFC 327 Prochazka v Ulberg – Sunday, April 12