Tim Tszyu wins a battle of broken soldiers, and Errol Spence Jr heads into the sunset

In Sunday’s bout, two boxers past their primes were fighting for the win, yes, but moreso for the chance to break themselves anew

A matchup between post-prime boxers has endless narrative potential, often disguising the ickiness of an already-shot fighter taking a beating. Robbed of their most explosive physical attributes, they try to compensate with wisdom and capacity for suffering. With legs dulled, they’re forced into harsh exchanges they were too defensively sound to allow in their primes. Fans get to enjoy the last gasps of greatness from their favorite fighters, and sportswriters get an excuse to describe them as “weathered veterans”. Afterwards, maybe one or both of them walks into the sunset.

Errol Spence, one of the best boxers of his generation, claimed he’ll do just that after losing a unanimous decision to Tim Tszyu on Sunday in Sydney. After winning the first 28 fights of his career and contributing to ear-splitting hype for a purportedly 50-50 welterweight fight with Terence Crawford, Spence absorbed a surgical, brutal beating from Crawford that showed the two were never really on the same level. As Crawford went on to win a title at junior middleweight and astonishingly defeat the legendary Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at super middleweight, Spence took three years off before returning to face Tszyu at age 36. Believe that he’s really retired at your peril; if the annihilation he suffered at Crawford’s hands wasn’t enough to deter him from boxing again, his initially competitive, eventually one-sided, relatively untraumatic loss to Tszyu may not move the needle either.

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