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Tim Tszyu faces once-beaten Takeshi Inoue on Nov. 17

Tim Tszyu
Fighters Network
17
Sep

Unbeaten junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu, who is ranked No. 6 by The Ring, will face once-beaten Takeshi Inoue on November 17, it was announced Friday.

The 10-round bout will air live throughout Australia on Main Event and Kayo Sports.

Tszyu, who is the son of former world junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, had called out all junior middleweights, including former WBC titleholder Tony Harrison, to travel to Australia to face him before finalizing a fight against Inoue.

In his last bout on July 7, Tszyu stopped countryman Steve Sparks, who had fought most of his fights at 140 pounds, in the opening round. The 26-year-old has stopped his last five opponents, including former WBO welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn and former two-time world title challenger Dennis Hogan.



Tszyu, who resides in Sydney, Australia, is the mandatory challenger to face WBO titleholder Brian Castano, who could face Ring Magazine champion Jermell Charlo later this year or in early 2022. Both fought to a split-decision draw on July 17.

Inoue (17-1, 10 KOs) is a high-volume fighter, as was the case in his clash against then-WBO junior middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia in January 2019. Inoue suffered the only loss of his career at the hands of Munguia.

The 31-year-old, who resides in Tokyo, has won his last four bouts after the loss to Munguia. In his last bout on November 7, Inoue defeated Nath Nwachukwu by unanimous decision over eight rounds.

The clash against Tszyu will mark Inoue’s first fight in Australia and fourth outside of Japan.

No word yet on where specifically in Australia the fight will take place.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing     

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