Tim Tszyu's preparation for his Las Vegas debut rolls on with two new sparring partners in the mould of his towering new opponent Sebastian Fundora already in camp.
Tszyu's months of planning went out the window with Keith Thurman pulling out through injury and fellow American Fundora stepping in as his replacement in the March 30 (local time) fight at T-Mobile Arena.
The stakes of the fight have risen for the undefeated Australian, who now has the chance to add the WBC super-welterweight belt to the WBO strap he already possesses and become a unified world champion like his legendary father Kostya.
Victory over Fundora is also set to lead to a super showdown with undisputed welterweight king Terence Crawford, who is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
"Beautiful," said Tszyu, whose record is 24-0 (17KO).
"It's every fighter's dream to be on the biggest stage of them all but the dream is to unify so I'm happy we're fighting for both the WBO and WBC belts."
Less than two weeks out from the battle, the Sydney slayer is now readying himself for an awkward southpaw and an opponent some 26cm taller than Thurman, with 197cm Fundora dubbed the "Towering Inferno".
Tszyu said as soon as Fundora (20-1-1, 13KO) was confirmed his team moved quickly to find fighters of the same height and stance.
"We've got some already - my manager and one of our assistant coaches here in Vegas sorted it out straight away and flew two boys in for my last week of sparring," the 29-year-old said.
"It's a big shift, like I've been prepared for Keith Thurman, but it is what it is - this is what it takes to be great, simple."
Tszyu said Fundora's unusual height for a 154 pound fighter made him a tricky opponent.
His younger brother Nikita is with him in the fight capital but Tszyu said he was too small to get value from sparring.
"I've come up against southpaws before but to come up against a southpaw that tall, it's not very known in the 154 division so that's the biggest challenge I've got in front of me, the tallness."
Prior to the opponent switch Tszyu sparred with Brian Mendoza, who coincidentally knocked out Fundora in his only defeat of his 21-fight career.
Mendoza went on to face Tszyu on the Gold Coast in October last year, losing by a crushing unanimous decision.
"It's funny, the last time we sparred we had a random conversation about Fundora," Tszyu said of Mendoza.
"He said Fundora is like a height bully, that's all he is. He's got average boxing skills, average IQ, but he has this physique that allows him to bully people.
"But you can really work him out and Mendoza got him good, let's say that."
