Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. is backing Errol Spence Jr. to defeat Tim Tszyu in their upcoming middleweight bout. Jones, who has observed Spence’s training, believes the American’s superior endurance will overcome Tszyu’s early aggression in the scheduled contest.
The fight marks a significant return for Spence, who has not competed since his comprehensive defeat to Terence Crawford in 2023. A three-year absence from the ring led many to assume he had retired. He now faces Tszyu, an opponent who has remained active but comes into the fight following his own recent defeats to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev. The bout, originally set at a catchweight, will now take place at the full middleweight limit of 160lbs after a late request from Spence’s team was accepted.
Speaking ahead of the fight, Jones Jr. provided a clear breakdown of how he expects the contest to unfold, predicting a difficult start for Spence before his conditioning takes over. He identified the middle rounds as the critical turning point.
Jones stated: “It’s going to be a slugfest. Man, it’s a hard call, but I’m going with Errol to withstand the onslaught that Tszyu gonna put on early. If he gets past four, five rounds, Errol definitely gonna beat him. To me, Errol is stronger later than anybody fighting. You get him past round six and you’ve got a problem on your hands, especially if he ain’t beat up or anything in the face, because that’s when he starts to come alive.”
This analysis frames the fight as a classic test of aggression versus stamina. Tszyu’s best path to victory appears to be securing an early stoppage or building an insurmountable lead on the scorecards. For Spence, the challenge is to absorb that initial pressure without taking significant damage before imposing his own will in the second half of the fight. The stakes are high for both former champions, as each man seeks to re-establish his position at the elite level of the sport. A victory would relaunch a career, while a defeat would represent a considerable setback.
