Robert Garcia Says PBC Could Match Tim Tszyu With Erislandy Lara
Robert Garcia said a Tim Tszyu fight with Erislandy Lara would fit the way Premier Boxing Champions likes to keep a belt in-house. Garcia was answering a question about that matchup, and he treated Lara as the cleaner route for Tszyu than a WBO assignment.
He opened by saying a deal of that kind would be welcome. “That would be nice, you know, hopefully something like that happens with Golden Boy and Rick Morrigan, obviously, working together,” Garcia said. He then widened the point to the weight class itself.
“But, look, I think, I think, I think the division’s getting, it’s getting, it’s getting better and better little by little with, with the fighters like Virgil moving up and now Tim Su also, the Tarabee to vacant.”
Tszyu is already being discussed for a middleweight title shot. No Limit Boxing said in early September that talks with Lara’s team were close to a December fight in Australia, and Tszyu later said he would rather fight for a world title than take a non-title bout with Jermell Charlo. Lara has held the WBA middleweight belt since a first-round stoppage of Thomas LaManna on May 1, 2021. His last defense was a unanimous decision over Johan Gonzalez on December 6, 2025.
Garcia’s read was that the promotional fit matters as much as the ranking. “I, I think, you know, with, with, with Tim Su, I, I, I really believe that, that he might, that he might go the, the latter direction because it’s, it’s between both, PBC fighters and they, they like to work, work, work it within, within each other to, to keep the belt for themselves,” he said. Lara is a PBC fighter. Tszyu’s July 26 win over Errol Spence Jr. was also a PBC show, a unanimous decision in Sydney in Tszyu’s 160-pound debut.
He drew a line between that option and a WBO fight. “If, if, if they throw Tim Su for the WBO, it’s a tough fight,” Garcia said. “I think it’s a tougher fight. He might, he might, he might end up not winning and then it’ll be hard for him to come back straight into a world title fight.
” The WBO middleweight title is held by Denzel Bentley. Garcia did not name Bentley, and he framed the WBO path as the riskier one for a fighter trying to get back to a belt.The timing concern was Lara, not Tszyu. “In the meantime, Lara’s gonna want something else,” Garcia said.
“So I think, I think PBC works, works to a point where if they could do it between each other and keep the belt in-house, they’re gonna, they’re gonna, they’re gonna do that.” That is his expectation, not an announced fight. No date or venue has been confirmed beyond the September reports that a December Australian show was close.
Tszyu is 28-3 with 18 knockouts, and he is a former WBO super welterweight champion who lost that belt by split decision to Sebastian Fundora on March 30, 2024. Lara is 32-3-3 with 19 knockouts and is the oldest reigning world champion in the division. Garcia’s case is that PBC can put those two records in the same ring and keep the WBA belt on its own roster, while a WBO detour could cost Tszyu the next title shot if it goes wrong.
