Tim Tszyu's Las Vegas bout becomes title fight as Sebastian ...

Tim Tszyu has the chance to emulate his legendary father as a unified world boxing champion after the stakes were dramatically raised for his long-awaited Las Vegas debut.

Hours after Tszyu's scheduled opponent Keith Thurman was forced out of the March 30 pay-per-view blockbuster, officials stood up American Sebastian Fundora as a replacement.

The Tszyu-Thurman bout was a non-title fight, but now the undefeated Australian will place his WBO super-welterweight belt on the line while also challenging Fundora for the WBC strap at T-Mobile Arena.

The dream opportunity comes 25 years after Kostya Tszyu scored a technical knockout victory over Mexican Miguel Angel Gonzalez in Miami to snare the vacant WBC super-lightweight title, having captured the IBF version in 1997.

Team Tszyu had been left scrambling earlier on Tuesday when Thurman pulled out of the headline act after suffering a bicep injury in training.

A former unified welterweight champion, Thurman has fought just once since losing to the great Manny Pacquiao in July 2019.

He scored a unanimous points win over Mario Barrios in February 2022.

But the 35-year-old's future in the sport now looks increasingly uncertain.

Not so Tszyu's after No Limit Boxing boss George Ross secured the Fundora fight.

Nicknamed the 'Towering Inferno', Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) was slated to fight Ukraine's Serhii Bohachuk for the vacant WBC super-middleweight belt on the same Vegas card.

Fundora claimed the interim WBC super-welterweight belt when fellow American Erickson Lubin retired during their Sin City showdown in April 2022.

He defended the strap once against Mexican Carlos Ocampo — who Tszyu knocked out in the first round on the Gold Coast last year — before losing it to Brian Mendoza in Carson, Arizona, last April.

Tszyu (24-0, 17KOs) subsequently scored a unanimous points decision over Mendoza, also on the Gold Coast, last October in the most impressive performance of his professional career.

AAP