Tim Tszyu's next fight is expected to be a WBA middleweight world title challenge against Erislandy Lara, most likely in Australia in December 2026.

Nothing has been signed yet, but No Limit Boxing CEO George Rose said in early September that a deal was close, and every signal since has pointed the same way.

It's a quick turnaround.

Tszyu only beat Errol Spence Jr. on 26 July, a unanimous decision in Sydney that sent Spence into retirement and handed the Australian the biggest win of his career.

He called Lara out in the ring that night. Two months later, the fight is almost here.

Tim Tszyu vs Erislandy Lara: What We Know So Far

Until No Limit announces a date and venue, treat everything below as the expected shape of the fight rather than gospel:

• Opponent: Erislandy Lara (32-3-3, 19 KOs), expected
• Title: WBA middleweight world title, expected
• Weight: 160 pounds, the full middleweight limit
• Timing: December 2026 is the target, with trainer Jeff Fenech also floating the end of November
• Location: Australia, with Perth mentioned as a possible host, not confirmed
• Promoter: No Limit Boxing
• Distance: 12 rounds, standard for a world title fight

Fenech has been the one pushing the pace. Early talk had Tszyu sitting out until January, close to six months after Spence, and the new trainer wanted him back sooner than that.

With Tszyu home from an overseas break, the plan became a camp of roughly 11 weeks, which lines up neatly with a late November or December date.

A win would make Tszyu a two-division world champion, putting him on a short list of Australians to win world titles in more than one weight class. His own trainer is already on that list.

How Tszyu Got Here: The Spence Win

Tszyu beat Spence by unanimous decision at Afterpay Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, with the judges scoring it 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111. 

If you're hazy on how the different decision types work, our guide to boxing decisions explained covers it.

The fight was first pitched at 154 pounds and ended up being contested at the 160-pound middleweight limit. That suited Tszyu fine.

His weigh-ins had been creeping up for a while, and he confirmed straight after the fight that middleweight is now his home. Our boxing weight classes guide runs through where 160 sits in the division ladder.

It was also his first fight with Fenech as head trainer. The pitch was a return to the aggressive, front-foot Tszyu, and the championship rounds backed it up.

Tszyu kept pushing Spence onto the ropes and closed the 12th with a sharp, measured round that sealed the cards.

Some perspective is needed, though. Spence was 36, coming off three years out of the ring and fighting two divisions above where he made his name.

This wasn't the Spence who unified the welterweight division. He retired on the night, saying he was walking away with his faculties intact.

None of that is Tszyu's problem.

He beat the man in front of him, called it a bigger achievement than any world title, and moved to 28-3 (18 KOs) with his unbeaten record on home soil still intact. That's what put him in line for Lara.

Who Is Erislandy Lara?

Lara is 43 and the oldest active world champion in the sport. Don't mistake that for an easy night.

The Cuban southpaw won amateur world championship gold in 2005 before defecting and turning pro in 2008. He held the WBA super welterweight title for years, moved up to middleweight in 2021 and has been full WBA champion at 160 since 2023.

All three of his losses came on the scorecards, against Paul Williams, Canelo Alvarez and Jarrett Hurd. Nobody has stopped him in 38 professional fights.

His last outing was in December 2025, a wide decision over Johan Gonzalez in San Antonio.

Gonzalez came in as a late replacement after Janibek Alimkhanuly's planned unification fell through over a failed drug test. Lara dropped him in the first and 12th rounds and coasted in between, and the crowd booed him for it.

That's the Lara puzzle in a nutshell. He's slippery, economical and more than happy to win ugly. He also has the longer reach, 75½ inches to Tszyu's 72, and fighters who chase him tend to spend a lot of the night hitting air.

He's fought sparingly in recent years, and by December he'll be about a year removed from his last fight, in his mid-40s, travelling to the other side of the world to face a man who has never lost in Australia.

Fenech knows what the job is. His plan is to make Lara fight Tszyu's fight, keep him guessing and take away the comfortable rhythm he likes to settle into.

Our read: this is a winnable fight for Tszyu, and a far more realistic route to a belt than the champions who beat him at 154. Pressure and volume are how you crack an aging technician over 12 rounds.

Whether Tszyu can cut the ring off against a southpaw who doesn't want to engage will decide it. 

For how we see it landing once the markets open, our best boxing predictions weigh up whether his pressure can crack Lara over 12 rounds.

The Charlo Wildcard and Other Middleweight Options

Lara isn't signed, so the other names still matter.

Jermell Charlo is the one Tszyu keeps coming back to. The pair were booked for the undisputed super welterweight title in January 2023 before Charlo broke his hand, and the fight never got rescheduled.

Charlo moved up to face Canelo in September 2023, lost, and hasn't boxed since. Tszyu reopened the feud on social media in September, tagging Charlo in a mocked-up photo.

It would sell tickets and pay-per-views. It would also be a three-year-old grudge against a fighter who's been out even longer than Spence was. As a sporting proposition, Lara is the stronger fight by a distance.

Beyond those two, here's how the middleweight titles sit right now:

• WBA: Erislandy Lara
• WBC: Carlos Adames, widely rated the best in the division
• IBF: Aaron McKenna, who won the vacant belt in August
• WBO: Denzel Bentley, elevated to full champion in July after Alimkhanuly moved up to super middleweight

McKenna and Bentley had a unification deal lined up for later this year until the WBO ordered Bentley to face mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez first.

Adames has his own options. That leaves Lara as the most available champion, which goes a long way to explaining why this fight is coming together so quickly.

A Tszyu win puts him straight into the unification conversation at 160. A loss, at 32 and with a fourth defeat on the record, would make the road back a very long one.

Markets on Tszyu's next fight will open once the bout is locked in.

For the latest prices, check out our dedicated boxing betting odds page here at Sportsbet.

If you are new to the fight game, it is worth reading our guide on how to bet on boxing before the markets open.