Tszyu Beats Spence, Spence Retires Again
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- Tim Tszyu defeated Errol Spence Jr. by unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111) in a 12-round middleweight contest at Afterpay Arena in Sydney, marking Spence's first fight since his 2023 loss to Terence Crawford.
- Errol Spence Jr. announced his retirement after the loss, telling Main Event's Ben Damon: 'I've got my faculties intact. My money is good at working for itself. Everything's good, man.'
- Tszyu secured his third consecutive win, continuing a comeback after consecutive losses to Sebastian Fundora (twice) and Bakhram Murtazaliev, with Tszyu saying 'beating a great like Errol Spence tops a world title.'
- Spence's three-year layoff was evident as he struggled to apply prolonged pressure and appeared uncharacteristically fatigued in the later rounds, while Tszyu grew in confidence and repeatedly targeted Spence's jaw with right hands.
- The Sydney card lost two undercard bouts: Jermall Charlo was denied an Australian visa for his scheduled fight against Koen Mazoudier, and Stephen Fulton Jr. failed to make weight for his world-title eliminator against Liam Wilson.
- Paulo Aokuso captured the vacant IBF Pan Pacific light heavyweight title with a 10th-round knockout of Luis Antonio Tejeda, while Callum Peters stopped Argentina's Ivan Ricardo Actis in round seven and Ahmad Reda crushed Paul Fleming in the promoted co-main.
Why it matters: Spence exits as a pound-for-pound talent whose three-year layoff was visibly exposed, while Tszyu—rebuilt after three straight losses—positions himself for another title shot on the back of the biggest win of his career. The undercard collapses (Charlo's visa denial, Fulton's weight miss) underscore how thin the Sydney card became without its secondary attractions.
