A bloodied Tim Tszyu has been cruelly denied in his quest to emulate his legendary father Kostya and become a unified world boxing champion after a sapping loss to towering American Sebastian Fundora. Suffering his first defeat in 25 fights, Tszyu surrendered his WBO super welterweight belt and the vacant WBC strap at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, missing his chance to take his place among the sport’s elite.

Tszyu lost the fight in a split decision, with the judges scoring the fight 116 -112, 115-113, 112-116 in favour of Fundora. The unlucky Australian’s fight derailed at the end of the second round when he walked into the elbow of 197cm Fundora, opening up a huge gash on his head. But he was gracious in defeat.

“Look, I told you, I’m an old throwback fighter whatever circumstances. I couldn’t see but all credit belongs to the man who won tonight,” Tszyu said.

“These things happen. The momentum was rolling. I was swinging hard in the first rounds and then ‘boom’, you’re blinded completely. But, look, this is boxing. This is part of the sport and it happens. Congratulations to Fundora – he’s the new king at 154 (pounds).”

The world champion had dominated the opening exchanges, putting his towering opponent on the back foot with some heavy right-hand blows. Despite blood pouring down his face, Tszyu was cleared to continue by the fight doctor but Fundora took advantage of the Australian’s lack of vision to level the score.

With both fighters covered in blood, with Fundora’s nose also gushing, the Australian continued to search for a way to bring the battle to an early end. Fundora played it smart by trying to attack Tszyu’s head while the Sydney warrior, using his gloves to wipe the blood from his eyes, was unable to connect in his usual fashion.

With Fundora edging ahead, the doctor again checked the cut at the start of the seventh round but gave the green light for it to go on. Like a gladiator, Tszyu battled on as he hunted a knockout blow but hindered by the blood flow he was unable to stop the Californian.

Fundora’s win sees him join his younger sister Gabriela as a world champion after she captured the IBF flyweight world title earlier this year.

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Tszyu was attempting for he and Kostya to join Leon and Corey Spinks as only the second father-and-son duo to become unified world boxing champions. He was also looking to set up a mega fight against either pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford or former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr, with a pay cheque of $US10m ($A15.3m) on the table.

It ended a miserable 24 hours for Australian boxers with Liam Wilson and Michael Zerafa also losing their world title fights.

Erislandy Lara shattered Zerafa’s dream of winning a world title for his ailing sister with the Cuban-American emphatically retaining his WBA middleweight crown. Australian Zerafa’s night ended in the second round after he was sent tumbling to the canvas.

Zerafa had dedicated the fight to older sister Michelle, who had surprised him by being ringside despite undergoing treatment for breast cancer. But the 40-year-old southpaw Lara showed he still had the slick moves that had made him a champion in his first fight since May 2022.

Both fighters felt their way through the opening round but Lara (30-4, 18KO) upped the stakes after coming out for the second. Lara unsettled Zerafa (31-5, 19KO) with a straight left and, sensing his opening, unleashed on his rival with a devastating right-left combination with the Victorian unable to continue.

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Wilson also suffered heartbreak in Arizona a day earlier, the Australian boxer losing his super-featherweight world-title fight against Mexican Oscar Valdez. In front of a parochial full house at Desert Diamond Arena, the referee stopped the fight with 12 seconds left in the seventh round.

It had been a war of attrition, with both fighters taking plenty of punishment. While an aggressive Wilson was at high volume, more of the Mexican’s big punches landed. Former world champion Valdez unleashed in the seventh, raining blows on the Queenslander to end the fight by technical knockout.

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