As much as he wants to believe he can recapture the championship form that made him one the most accomplished fighters of his era, however, Spence respects the opinions of those who doubt him. After all he has endured since his split-decision victory over Shawn Porter in September 2019, it is impossible to know which version of Spence will enter the ring to fight Tim Tszyu on Sunday afternoon at Afterpay Arena in Sydney, Australia.

The injuries from a car accident that could’ve taken his life in October 2019, the detached retina that cost him his fight with Manny Pacquiao in August 2021 and the psychological and physical damage he sustained during the lone loss of his career to Terence Crawford might amount to too much for even the resilient Spence to overcome. The DeSoto, Texas, native is 36, has boxed only three times since he edged Porter in their dogfight almost seven years ago and still hasn’t demonstrated outside the mostly closed confines of new trainer Ronnie Shields’ gym that he has recovered from what Crawford did to him during a devastating defeat in July 2023.

Crawford floored Spence three times on his way to a legacy-altering, ninth-round technical knockout. Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) — a former IBF, WBA and WBC 147-pound champ — never previously displayed that type of vulnerability in the ring and might not be the same ferocious fighter.

Tszyu (27-3, 18 KOs) has physical and mental damage as well, particularly during TKO losses to Bakhram Murtazaliev and Sebastian Fundora in two of his past five fights. Their 12-round middleweight match, available via DAZN Pay-Per-View and DAZN’s Ultimate plan, is still more about what’s left of Spence.

“This feels similar to when I went over to England to fight Kell Brook,” Spence said Thursday of facing Tszyu in his opponent’s hometown. “The mentality doesn’t change at all. It’s me versus him, and it’s everything on the line. The hunger is still there, and I’m still here to show everyone that Errol Spence is still here.”

Spence realizes a large faction of naysayers won’t believe him unless he proves it versus Tszyu, but he insists he's refreshed following such a long layoff.

“I’m feeling great,” he said. “I needed that time off to let everything heal. I wouldn’t have come back if I wasn’t feeling great.”

However the two super middleweight matches came together, it’s difficult to make sense of the Hamzah Sheeraz-Simon Zachenhuber and Jacob Bank-Pawel August bouts being part of the Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga undercard Saturday night at Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia.

Sheeraz wants to be as active as possible after a 10-month layoff and a second-round destruction of Alem Begic on May 23 in Giza, Egypt. The WBO 168-pound champion told The Ring this week that he’ll defend his belt against a more formidable opponent in his next fight, assuming the 25-1 favorite wins.

To be fair, Sheeraz was more than willing to face Diego Pacheco for the then-vacant championship he won by beating Begic. Pacheco (26-0, 19 KOs) turned down that opportunity, which created a much easier championship path for England’s Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 KOs).

Regardless, how, exactly was Zachenhuber approved for a title fight three months after August upset him on points in a six-rounder on the Tyson Fury-Arslanbek Makhmudov undercard April 11?

Germany’s Zachenhuber (29-1, 18 KOs) was ranked sixth by the WBO before he lost to August, who won 58-56 on the card of referee Reece Carter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. He dropped to seventh, but the Polish-born, England-based August (18-0, 7 KOs) never appeared in the WBO’s top 15 and is thus ineligible to fight for Sheeraz’s title.

Zachenhuber, a German southpaw, stopped countryman Armin Ajrulai (10-3, 4 KOs) after four rounds June 28 in Cologne. That win was apparently more than enough to restore his credibility and “earn” him a title shot.

August, meanwhile, will box Bank (19-0, 11 KOs), the Danish contender Sheeraz should’ve fought next, even if their fight needed to take place in a few months. Bank is ranked second by the WBO and is its leading available contender for Sheeraz’s title because No. 1-ranked Canelo Alvarez has a fight scheduled against WBC champ Christian Mbilli on October 31.

Bouts Friday and Saturday are designed to ensure that Tyson Fury finally fights Joshua next, but listening to him belittle Prenga during a press conference to promote his own bout against a hopeless underdog in Mariusz Wach was priceless.

Prenga (20-1, 20 KOs) is obviously unproven at this level and should serve as a relatively safe foe for whatever is left of Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs), despite the ambitious Albanian’s 95 percent knockout ratio. But at 35, he is 11 years younger than Wach, hasn’t been knocked out and takes a 16-fight winning streak into his fight with Joshua, albeit against mostly pedestrian opposition.

Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) claimed Poland’s Wach would “put his fist through” Prenga. Wach (39-13, 20 KOs) has faced a long list of former heavyweight champions and contenders, but he is 46, has been beaten inside the distance five times and poses practically no threat whatsoever to Fury in their 10-round fight at Max Muay Thai Stadium in Pattaya, Thailand.

The former Ring and WBC champion’s second tune-up fight in three months is considered such a mismatch that his handlers couldn’t convince a single streaming service or broadcast network to carry it live. Fury is a 50-1 favorite, according to FanDuel, whereas Joshua is less than half that number (23-1).

■ What is going on in Stephen Fulton’s training camps for him to have had to change the contract weight before a second straight 130-pound fight? The former junior featherweight and featherweight champ’s handlers tried to get Liam Wilson to move the weight for their fight on the Spence-Tszyu undercard from 130 to 135, something WBC super featherweight champ O’Shaquie Foster agreed to do when he came in two pounds overweight for their title fight December 6 in San Antonio. Australia’s Wilson would only go up to 133, which adds intrigue to their 12-rounder. Foster is much more formidable than Wilson and soundly defeated Fulton. Wilson was nonetheless considered a live underdog even before the weight switch was confirmed during a press conference Friday in Sydney.

■ Steven Butler (38-5-1, 32 KOs) has been beaten five times by knockout or technical knockout entering his 10-round super middleweight match against Edgar Berlanga on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater in New York. The Canadian contender can crack, though, and, like Spence, it’s difficult to know what to make of his opponent because Brooklyn’s Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) was beaten up by Sheeraz in his last fight, a fifth-round knockout defeat, and hasn’t fought in over a year.

■ Still perplexed by the insistence of Zuffa Boxing and/or Paramount+ to start the main, three-fight portions of Zuffa’s shows at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday nights. The main events of the company’s cards, in this case Berlanga-Butler, typically start after 11 p.m. ET, which should be adjusted to maximize viewership on a non-traditional night to broadcast or stream boxing.