Tszyu-Ortiz set for Crawford-Madrimov card Aug. 3
A junior middleweight bout between former WBO champion Tim Tszyu and Vergil Ortiz Jr. was announced Wednesday for the Terence Crawford versus Israil Madrimov undercard on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
Ortiz is scheduled to face Thomas Dulorme as a huge betting favorite Saturday and must come out of that fight victorious and uninjured for his bout with Tszyu to occur as planned.
Tszyu is looking to bounce back from the first loss of his career, a split decision against Sebastian Fundora on March 30 in the first PBC pay-per-view main event on Prime Video. The Australian suffered a deep gash on the top of his head early in the fight after an accidental elbow, impairing his vision and making for one of the bloodiest battles in recent memory.
Tszyu was originally scheduled to face Keith Thurman, who would've presented a much different stylistic matchup than Fundora. Thurman pulled out about two weeks before the event after suffering a biceps injury.
Ortiz is coming off a first-round TKO win over Fredrick Lawson in January. That was the undefeated 26-year-old's first match since 2022.
Tszyu-Ortiz joins a stacked lineup that also includes Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz defending the WBA junior welterweight title belt against Jose Valenzuela, as well as former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz returning to action against Jarrell Miller.
The Crawford-Madrimov card is being organized by Saudi Arabia's Turki Alalshikh, marking his first boxing event outside the kingdom.