Errol Spence Jr will end three years of inactivity in July when he faces Tim Tszyu in Australia.

The main event will be the first time Spence bounces back from defeatafter a final loss to Terence Crawford in 2023 for the undisputed welterweight title.

Due to the nature of this loss and past injuries, many believed Spence’s time as a player was over and expected a retirement announcement rather than confirmation of a return.

Despite concerns that he would no longer be the same elite fighter – a concern Spence admitted he shares – the former unified champion was preparing for an even tougher test than Tszyu.

A conversation with former opponent Shawn Porter FOX SportsSpence confirmed that the long-rumored clash with Sebastian Fundora is at the top of his hit list.

“[Tszyu] wasn’t the best I could get. I’m not crazy, but I’m not ruling anything out. So I looked at Fundora, I looked at the top names.

“I’m the type of guy who really doesn’t believe in ring rust. If I look good in the gym for nine, 10 weeks, why can’t I look good in a fight? It’s a mental thing… I feel like coming to fight night and showing everyone that ring rust doesn’t exist. It doesn’t concern me at all.

WBC super welterweight champion Fundora has been openly discussing a fight with Spence, and several rumors have come and gone over the past twelve months. Instead, “The Towering Inferno” faced Keith Thurman in March, retaining the belt until a sixth-round stoppage.

If Spence beats Tszyu and looks good doing it, he may want to re-enter the talks. His return will be set at a catchweight of 158 pounds with the possibility of dropping to 154 pounds.

The fight gave Muratalla credibility to defeat one of the best technicians in the lightweight division. He also showed how hard life at an elite level could become for him. Cruz landed multiple times during exchanges and forced Muratalla into a grueling fight that could take something out of the lightweight division over time.

Muratalla became the IBF champion after passing Vasily Lomachenko earlier this year. Lomachenko’s promotional contract with Top Rank officially expired this week, leaving the former three-division champion free to pursue outside fights if he decides to return.

Tuesday’s reports indicated that Lomachenko was considering a return at age 38 and would only return for a earnest fight.

One possibility the official mentioned was a fight against Muratalla, who immediately became the biggest name in the champion’s history.

There has been talk of a fight between Muratalla and Shakur Stevenson before, but no earnest talks took place until Stevenson moved up to 140 pounds earlier this year.

The IBF rankings leave several possible destinations for Muratalla’s return in August, including Albert Bell, Lucas Bahdi and Floyd Schofield Jr.

Meanwhile, Andy Cruz is reportedly being considered for another elimination fight, raising the possibility that Muratalla will eventually have to face the Cuban again if both fighters continue to win.

The uncertainty surrounding Gervonta Davis also left an open question in the lightweight division. Davis hasn’t fought since March 2025 and is reported to be aiming to return to fighting in the early fall while also dealing with legal issues in Florida.

This inaction has left fighters like Muratalla trying to take control of the division while the biggest names remain in uncertainty. August 8 may look like a homecoming date on paper, but Muratalla still has a ways to go before fans fully accept him as the man who replaced Lomachenko rather than a fighter who simply inherited the belt.

Teddy Atlas named him the best welterweight fighter of all time, ahead of fighters such as Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford.

Mayweather and Crawford are viewed by many as two of the best 147-pound fighters in history, with Mayweather scoring huge victories over the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley, and Crawford notably defeated Errol Spence to become the undisputed champion.

Despite these accolades, Atlas believes that neither Mayweather nor Crawford deserves the number one spot as the greatest welterweight fighter in history. revealed on his YouTube channel that I give this honor to Sugar Ray Robinson.

“[He] might be the greatest fighter of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson. 173 wins, 19 defeats, most of them in elderly age, six draws, 108 knockouts. That’s a lot of knockouts. That’s a lot of fighting.

“He had a 91-fight unbeaten streak – that’s pretty good. Those losses, like I said, most of them came when he was elderly, well beyond his best. Welter and the middleweight champion, he would also win the lightweight heavyweight title.

“He fought [Joey Maxim] at Yankee Stadium it was about 30 degrees outside in the ring on a summer night in June. The referee had been carried out early because of the heat, carried out of the ring – it was so scorching, it was so brutal.

“I don’t remember what round it was, it was a very tardy round [13] and Robinson fell. He had the advantage in the fight, he was going to win the lightweight heavyweight title, but he collapsed from heat exhaustion, just as the referee had done four or five rounds earlier.

It’s certainly challenging to argue with Atlas’s assessment that Robinson was world welterweight champion for five years, from 1946 to 1951, during which he had a remarkable 91-fight unbeaten streak.

At one point he had recorded 129 wins in 132 fights, scoring 85 knockouts along the way, before finally hanging up his gloves in 1965, winning 174 of 201 fights, clearly demonstrating why so many rightly held him in such high regard.