Representatives for Tszyu and WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara are in the latter stages of finalizing a deal for a headliner in Australia, with a targeted date in December, Fox Sports Australia revealed Tuesday.

“We’ve had great discussions with Lara’s team,” George Rose of No Limit Boxing, Tszyu’s promoter, told the outlet. “And I feel like something is close to being announced.”

Tszyu (28-3, 18 KOs), a former WBO 154-pound titleholder, last fought in July and scored a unanimous decision win against Errol Spence Jr. in a middleweight matchup. The 31-year-old Sydney native is on a three-fight winning streak since losing a second time to WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora in their rematch 13 months ago.

Tszyu is 5-3 since 2024, including a brutal third-round, technical-knockout defeat to Bakhram Murtazaliev.

Cuba’s Lara (32-3-3, 19 KOs) hasn’t fought since scoring a unanimous-decision victory over Johan Gonzalez in December. The 43-year-old Cuban was supposed to face Janibek Alimkhanuly, then the IBF and WBO 160-pound champ, but their title unification fight was scrapped once Alimkhanuly tested positive for a banned substance.

Gonzalez replaced Alimkhanuly on less than one week’s notice.

Lara won the then-vacant WBA middleweight title in May 2021 by starching Thomas LaManna in the first round. He has defended it just four times over the past five years by defeating Gary O’Sullivan, Michael Zerafa, Danny Garcia and Gonzalez.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.