Rising Australian star Tim Tszyu, the son of Down Under fighting legend and former Ricky Hatton opponent Kostya Tszyu, returns to action later this week in what will be a challenging last-minute replacement main event.
Tszyu was set to meet Michael Zerafa in the next step on his journey towards world title contention. However, Zerafa withdrew last week and in his place enters formidable young fighter Steve Spark, who possesses considerable power and has tasted defeat only once so far as a pro.
Though the course is now very much Tszyu vs. Spark, both opponents chose to direct most of their shade towards Zerafa for dropping out at a recent press conference.
"Michael who?", remarked Tszyu when asked a question about his originally-scheduled adversary.
“There’s a bit of anger in there. A lot of anger, actually. I’ve been preparing hard for this fight. I really wanted to take this guy out.
“Thank you to [Spark] for stepping up at such late notice, but this is business for me, we’re not friends yet.
“I’ve got one thing on my mind, that’s to take him out, by any means possible."
Spark said: “I do this for the fans, that’s why I did jump in and take this at the last minute. If you want it bad enough you’ll make it happen, that’s referring to myself, to Tim, to No Limit.
“When you want something bad enough you’ll go ahead and make it happen, unlike some other fighters who aren’t willing to do that.”
Here's all you need to know about the Wednesday fight night.
Tim Tszyu vs. Steve Spark date, start time
- Date: Wednesday, July 7th
- Time: 19:00 AEST / 10:00 BST
Tszyu vs. Spark begins its live coverage of the main card at 7pm local time in Australia, which is 10am in the UK and 5am on the east coast of the US. Main event ringwalks are anticipated at some time after 9:30pm AEST/12:30pm BST/ 7:30am ET, though as ever the exact start time of the headline attraction will depend on how long the undercard runs.
How to watch, live stream Tszyu vs. Spark
Tszyu-Spark will be available to watch in Australia via Kayo and Foxtel’s Pay-per-View channel, Main Event (Channel 521). International streaming options have yet to be confirmed at press time. Viewers in the U.S. can watch on ESPN+.
Where is Tszyu vs. Spark?
The event takes place at Newcastle Entertainment Centre in the harbour city of Newcastle, New South Wales in Australia.
Tim Tszyu record and bio
- Nationality: Australian
- Born: November 2, 1994
- Height: 5ft 9ins
- Reach: 72ins
- Total fights: 18
- Record: 18-0, 14 KOs
Steve Spark record and bio
- Nationality: Australian
- Born: 23rd June, 1992
- Height: n/a
- Reach: n/a
- Total fights: 13
- Record: 12-1 with 11 knockouts
Tim Tszyu vs. Steve Spark fight card
- Tim Tszyu vs. Steve Spark, 10 rounds at super-welterweight
- Liam Wilson vs. Joe Noynay, 10 rounds at super-featherweight
- Miles Zalewski vs. Lee Fook, 10 rounds at super-featherweight
- Wade Ryan vs. Troy O'Meley, 10 rounds at super-welterweight
- Sam Ah-See vs. Czar Amonsot, 8 rounds at welterweight
- Linn Sandstrom vs. Natalie Hills, 6 rounds at super-flyweight