Errol Spence Jr Retires at 28-2 After Losing to Tim Tszyu in Sydney

Errol Spence Jr is done. After returning to the ring for the first time in three years, the Dallas southpaw dropped a wide unanimous decision to Tim Tszyu in Sydney on Saturday and confirmed immediately afterward that he's retiring for good. He walks away at 28-2 (22 KOs), a former unified welterweight champion who never lost a fight until he ran into Terence Crawford in 2023.

The comeback was always going to be a gamble. Spence hadn't fought since Crawford stopped him in their undisputed showdown, and rust plus a full-sized, physically imposing Tszyu proved too much. Spence flashed the old work early, digging to the body and reminding everyone why he was one of the division's best for the better part of a decade. But the fight got away from him as the rounds piled up.

How the Fight Went

Tszyu took over in the middle rounds and never gave it back. Spence dug deep in the eleventh — a genuinely gutsy stretch — but the judges saw it lopsided in the Australian's favor. Afterward Spence was gracious, congratulating Tszyu and his new trainer Jeff Fenech, and thanking No Limit Boxing for how they treated his family during the trip.

Then came the part that mattered. Asked point-blank if this was the end, Spence said yes without hesitation. He explained that he's leaving the sport with his health and his faculties intact, his money working for him, and his family beside him. He framed the loss as answering questions he'd had about himself, and said it's now time to go home and start a new chapter.

The Legacy He Leaves

This is a resume that holds up. Spence beat Kell Brook, Shawn Porter and Yordenis Ugás on his way to collecting three of the four major welterweight belts, and he did it while surviving a near-fatal car crash that could easily have ended things far earlier. His amateur record — 135 wins against just 12 losses — tells you he was elite long before the pro belts arrived.

For context on how tough that Crawford defeat was to absorb: 'Bud' is still perfect at 42-0 (31 KOs) and most recently outpointed Canelo Álvarez by unanimous decision at super middleweight. Losing to a fighter of that caliber, then bowing out against a bigger, fresher Tszyu, isn't the ending Spence dreamed of. But leaving on his own terms, healthy and clear-headed, is a rarer outcome in this sport than most fighters ever get.