Australian Tim Tszyu has locked in his much-anticipated US boxing debut, taking on American Terrell Gausha in Minnesota in late March.
The unbeaten junior middleweight contender was initially scheduled to fight on the same card as Brian Castano-Jermell Charlo on Mar. 19 in Los Angeles.
However, the winner-takes-all unified showdown was cancelled after Argentine Castano suffered a biceps training injury, leaving Tszyu in limbo.
Tszyu will now fight Gausha a week later in Minneapolis, with victory keeping the Australian, the mandatory challenger to Castano’s WBO light middleweight title, in line for a title shot.
“It’s official #TszyuGausha US bound Mar 27 we make another move,” Tszyu tweeted.
Boasting a 20-0 record including 15 knockouts, Tszyu had asked to replace Castano and fight Charlo (18-1-1) but was rejected, with the American waiting on Castano.
Charlo holds the WBC, IBF and WBA belts.
Tszyu’s last fight was in November when the 27-year-old swept aside Japan’s Takeshi Inoue in a unanimous decision.
Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) stopped fellow American Jamontay Clark in round two of their fight last March, his last outing.
As well as his own fight plans, Tszyu has been supporting younger brother Nikita, who is making his professional debut.
He is set to fly to the US late next week to continue preparations.