On the flipside, Tim Tszyu, the former 154-pound titleholder he's facing this weekend, has fought nine times (with a record of 6-3) since March 2023.

One of the chief storylines heading into Spence's return as a middleweight is just how much the 36-year-old Texan has left in the tank following a one-sided drubbing against Crawford in which he was dropped three times.

The boxing world will find out together when Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) and Tszyu (27-3, 18 KOs) square off at Afterpay Arena in Sydney on Sunday afternoon (Saturday night in the United States). The fight will headline a DAZN/Amazon Prime pay-per-view main event.

Spence and Tszyu sat down for a tense face-to-face conversation this week, and Spence used the setting to share why he didn't take a tune-up fight to better prepare for his comeback against Tszyu.

"Man, that's what I do," Spence said. "I don't care what perception [Tszyu] has, or what perception anybody has. If it's not my family, I can give a f--- about anybody's perception about me."

Spence went on to say that Tszyu, who has won two stay-busy fights since suffering a second loss to Sebastian Fundora in July of last year, has looked solid during his ongoing rebuild.

"Oh yeah, for sure [this is the best version of Tszyu]. He got some tune-ups to get himself together. He just had a fight [in April], so I think he's going to be well prepared," Spence said.

"Everybody knows his style. We might meet in the middle of the ring. We'll see. … We're going to go to work. It's going to be work as long as it lasts. I don't know if it's going to be 36 minutes."

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ROqlTxqaIyg 

To prepare for the occasion, Spence and Tszyu have hired new coaches. Spence is working with Ronnie Shields, and Tszyu has handed training duties to Jeff Fenech.

"[I'm expecting] the best [version of Spence]. I'm sure he's motivated. He's refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to go, the same way as I am," Tszyu said. "He feels like he's at the very top, so it doesn't really matter who they put in front of him. That's how he feels. I'm here to prove that wrong. I want to do damage. I want to go out there and unleash myself."

Spence wasn't bothered by Tszyu's statements and stressed that he wants to fast-forward to fight day.

"Man, my words are done," Spence said. "It's fight week. I'm ready to put on my gloves and get to rocking. It is what it is. He's going to say what he wants to say. He can do whatever, but we are going to see who's the best."