Erislandy Lara and Tim Tszyu negotiate for December bout in Australia

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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - DECEMBER 6: Erislandy Lara celebrates after winning his WBA Middleweight Championship bout against Johan Gonzalez at Frost Bank Center on December 6, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images) | Getty Images George Rose of No Limit Boxing tells Fox Sports Australia that “negotiations [are] close to being finalised” for a December clash between WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara and former super welterweight titlist Tim Tszyu in Australia. Lara (32-3-3, 19 KO), 43 years old and a full 15 years removed from his infamous robbery loss to Paul Williams, stands as arguably the top middleweight in the game following Janibek Alimkhanuly’s departure for greener and slightly heavier pastures. That said, he’s been short on top competition since his grueling 2019 draw with Brian Castano; his current seven-fight winning streak features such titans as Spike O’Sullivan, Michael Zerafa, and the husk of Danny Garcia. To be clear, this isn’t entirely his fault. He was days away from fighting Alimkhanuly in a three-weight unification last December before “Qazaq Style” failed a drug test. There won’t be nearly as much hardware involved here, but it’ll be his highest-profile fight of the 2020s and should be correspondingly lucrative. Tszyu (28-3, 18 KO), 12 years his junior, seems to have put his nightmare skid behind him with three straight wins of his own. The most recent of them saw him grind down former welterweight stud Errol Spence Jr, proving his unc-slaying chops in the process. Honestly, I like it. It’s one of the more interesting fights this choking sea turtle of a division can offer, especially with Lara’s legs too weathered to stink out the joint like in his heyday. Could be fun.

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Tim Tszyu’s first middleweight title shot could land on home soil this winter against ageless wonder Erislandy Lara