Shawn Porter has given an honest assessment of how Errol Spence Jr, his former foe, might fare against Tim Tszyu at a catchweight of 158lbs.
The pair will square off in Australia on July 25, with Spence entering his first outing since suffering a ninth-round stoppage defeat to Terence Crawford in 2023.
Prior to that, many felt the American was capable of remaining unbeaten, only for him to endure a one-sided beatdown at the hands of ‘Bud’.
As a result, Spence was relieved of the IBF, WBC and WBA world welterweight titles he had acquired by dethroning Kell Brook, Porter and Yordenis Ugas, respectively.
Tszyu, meanwhile, is coming off a pair of routine points victories after finding himself on the receiving end of a seventh-round finish against Sebastian Fundora last July.
Their first encounter saw Fundora edge a split decision in 2024, before Tszyu suffered a punishing third-round stoppage defeat to Bakhram Murtazaliev later that year.
The 31-year-old is therefore hoping to restore his position at world level, but must first collide with Spence at a reported 4lbs above his usual fighting weight.
As someone who lost a split decision to Spence in 2019, though, Porter believes the 36-year-old is capable of derailing Tszyu’s ambition to become a two-time world champion.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Porter dismissed the impact that a three-year layoff may have on ‘The Truth’.
“I’m inclined to believe that Errol Spence beats Tim Tszyu. Prior to [fighting] Terence Crawford, I feel like he would have beat Tim Tszyu.
“I don’t believe that much has changed in that amount of time. He has taken a tremendous amount of time off, [but] he says he was just waiting [for] that itch to come [back].”
At this stage in his career, it should be interesting to see what type of threat Spence can pose to the middleweight or super-welterweight division.