Tim Tszyu the new king of Australian boxing king after destroying Jeff Horn
This was only Tim Tszyu’s 16th professional fight – his future is spectacularly stratospheric. We doubted him, now we can only see world dominance. How far can the new king of Australian boxing go?
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The kid is the real deal.
Those who know him best already knew. The rest of us doubted.
And then we watched the first round against Jeff Horn, and the second, and then the knockdown in the third.
By the eighth, it was one-way traffic.
Tszyu was smashing Horn with uppercuts, hooks, body rips and straight rights.
The 32-year-old Queenslander, who had taken so much punishment in the past four years but never quit, finally quit.
His corner did the smart thing, they said “no more” knowing their man would never utter those words himself.
Horn looked lethargic from the beginning.
UTTER DESTRUCTION: HOW THE FIGHT ENDED
He was a step behind Tszyu from the opening bell, from power to speed to reaction.
Horn came into the fight proclaiming he was in career-best shape. This was only Tszyu’s 16th professional fight – his future is spectacularly stratospheric.
Tszyu came in lighter, but landed the big shots.
Horn looked off balance often. He was rocked by clinical punches thrown from sound positions; a credit to Tszyu’s fastidious technical training.
By the seventh and eighth rounds we had a familiar theme; when will Horn’s corner save their man and throw in the towel? Such was the sustained beating, and grim prospect of a Hail Mary punch, the style which floored Michael Zerafa in his previous contest when all hope was lost.
The corner looked after Horn and called a halt to proceedings between the eighth and ninth rounds.
Immediately, talk turned to whether this was Horn’s last hurrah.
But this is boxing. Last hurrahs come always too late.
Give it a few months and Horn will be training for his comeback.
That is of no concern to Tszyu, who now has the world to conquer after this masterful performance against Australia’s best.
He is unflappable, immovable, made for the big stage.
He carries all of the privilege of his father’s talents, with none of the baggage of expectation.
HOW THE FIGHT WAS WON
Let’s recap.
Horn landed two left hooks and a right in the early exchanges of the first round, however Tszyu stormed back to take the round with cleaner shots over the remaining two minutes.
Action in the second round was stopped as referee Phil Austin complained both fighters were “wrestling”.
Upon resumption, Tszyu tagged his opponent with rights and uppercuts, showing precision timing to land the better blows.
The third was a definitive round, with Tszyu stinging Horn with a variety of shots before flooring him with a left hook.
Horn survived the knockdown but was on the back foot thereafter.
In the fourth he was forced to endure more punishment as Tszyu landed flush with an uppercut and left hook.
In the fifth, it was a perfectly timed body shot that hurt Horn, who looked twice his age against the young lion.
Horn landed a strong overhand right at the start of the sixth, but Tszyu dominated thereafter.
A vicious left body rip floored Horn for the second time, and he was lucky to escape the round.
The seventh was more of the sustained battering as Tszyu hurt Horn to the body, not an obvious point of attack prior to the fight but one expertly exploited on the big stage.
A stinging body shot in the fifth rocked Horn.
The sixth and seventh followed suit before the eight broke Horn, who has only been broken before by the supreme Terence Crawford and the big, powerful Zerafa.
Tszyu (16-0, 12KO) moves past Horn (20-3-1, 13KO) as the nation’s finest pugilist.
We can underestimate him no more. No more.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR TSZYU?
Tenacious Tim Tszyu believes he is ready for a world-title shot in the wake of a ruthless disposal of Jeff Horn that has rubber-stamped him as the new superstar of Australian boxing.
There was a sentiment Tszyu had taken the Horn showdown too early in his career, so there is an argument that he is too raw for a world-title bid in his 17th professional bout.
But after he pulverised Horn, Tszyu is hungry, fears no-one and is daring to dream.
Besides, there is a compelling precedent - his very own champion father Kostya.
Tszyu senior won his first world title in his 14th pro fight. He was 25, the same age as Tim. And with the WBO prepared to consider a showdown between the winner of the Townsville mega fight and its champion Patrick Teixeria (31-1, 22KO) in December, Tszyu could soon get his wish.
Asked if he would be ready for a world-title bout, Tszyu said: “I believe in myself, I truly do.
“I believe I am destined for that road and that’s always been my goal, to get to the very top to challenge myself.
“If I beat Jeff Horn, he is a former world champion, he beat Manny Pacquiao, he has beaten the best in Australia.
“To have beaten Jeff, I can say I can go to the next chapter in my career.”
The Tszyu-Horn bout was beamed to millions around the world, including powerful boxing eyeballs in America.
Tszyu’s promoter Matt Rose said he would explore the prospect of an offshore world-title push following the Sydney slugger’s coming of age at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
“Tim is our biggest star. He is the new face of Australian boxing,” Rose said.
“He is our next superstar ... he beat a guy like Jeff Horn who is an absolute warrior.
“We are talking about a guy (Horn) who has beaten Manny Pacquaio. You saw the Jeff Horn that turned up, he was ready to fight and we know where Tim Tszyu stands in Australia, but look out the world, he is coming.
MORE BOXING
Jeff Horn concedes his glorious career is almost certainly over after defeat to Tim Tszyu
“The fight was on ESPN and what they would have seen it in America.
“The world just saw what he did to Jeff Horn.”
Tszyu (16-0, 12KO) sensed Horn (20-3-1, 13KO) was in trouble early.
“Straight from round one,” he said. “Once he got tired I felt he was going downhill.
“People will always compare me to my dad and what he did was truly out of this world. He was an undisputed world champion for 10 years. For someone to do that is beyond crazy. I will always float around as the son of Kostya, but I wanted to say this is Tim Tszyu who beat Jeff Horn and it wasn’t the son, it wasn’t because of my last name.
“It was purely the fact I trained hard and got the victory.
“Hopefully I introduced myself with that performance.”