Tim Tszyu’s cutman Mark Gambin reveals exactly what was in his ointment after mass condemnation

Speaking publicly for the first time since one of the bloodiest battles in boxing history, Tim Tszyu’s cutman Mark Gambin has hit back at critics that took aim at him following the bout.

Tim Tszyu with his cutman Mark Gambin in Las Vegas.

After deleting his Facebook profile and struggling to absorb the mass vitriol following his attempts to close Tim Tszyu’s nasty gash in his world title defeat, cutman Mark Gambin has slammed critics who claimed he didn’t have the correct ointment.

Speaking publicly for the first time since Tszyu’s defeat to Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas, Gambin revealed how traumatic the aftermath of the fight was.

“I was getting harassed by a lot of people, a lot of boxing sites were giving me and Igor a serve, it was a bit tough on me so I had to turn Facebook off for a couple of weeks,” Gambin told this masthead.

“I’ve been working with Igor for over 20 years, I’ve stopped a lot of cuts, I did some work with the Sharks under Ricky Stuart, I’ve never had a problem with a cut in my history.

“Tim got cut twice in Minnesota [against Terrell Gausha], I stopped both of them. It was just a freakish elbow that really sliced it open.

Tim Tszyu lost to Sebastian Fundora. Picture: No Limit Boxing

“You could see the veins at the bottom of it, there was nothing I could do, I could see that it wasn’t going to stop.”

US commentators claimed during the broadcast that Gambin did not have the correct ointment, which included adrenaline, to stop Tszyu’s cut, while others including noted cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran slammed Gambin’s handling of the injury.

Gambin rubbished those claims.

“I put adrenaline and lignocaine (both used to stop cuts) into it, it just wouldn’t stop,” Gambin said.

“People are saying I didn’t put this, didn’t put that. Stitch is wrong, he is just building up his own little profile.

“I had heaps of adrenaline, one in one thousand (double the usual amount), that was mixed in with lignocaine which makes it a coagulant.

“But I couldn’t stop it. My goal was to give Timmy 45 second to a minute of vision, because I knew it wasn’t going to last, but if I could get him 45 seconds to a minute he could maybe get on top of him.

Tszyu was blinded by blood streaming down his face. Picture: AFP

“But the moment he stood up off his stool, it started dripping down again. And Fundora was just jabbing at it and opening it.

“By the end of the fight, it was so wide.”

Such is the loyalty among Team Tszyu, there was never a consideration of sacking Gambin amid the furore from outside.

On Wednesday night, Gambin will be in the corner for Nikita Tszyu when he fights Danilo Creati at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.

“I hate losing to a cut, and I love the team with all my heart, it’s such a good team and we have a family bond,” Gambin said.

“It broke me up that I couldn’t stop the cut. I’ve stopped every other cut in the past.

“Nikita’s fight has come at the best time, it’s given everyone a new bit of vision, happiness and excitement, because we were all feeling a bit flat and it was very hard for Tim and the team because we all put our heart and soul into that camp.

“But with Nikita now, it gives us a boost because there is something to look forward to and focus on.

Nikita Tszyu is fighting Danilo Creati on Wednesday. Picture: No Limit Boxing

“There’s five of us in the team, from [trainer] Igor Goloubev, Dave Barker who does the strength, Glen Jennings who is a great manager, Omar [Iferd] is a great chef and they’ve got Dr Bill [Anselin] there, we’re a small team, we bond and we move on to the next one.”

Gambin said the only cut that he’d seen in his career that was similar to Tszyu’s, was when former Cronulla NRL player Isaac De Gois suffered a gash at the top of his head during a 2008 match.

“But I could take him off the field and bandage it,” Gambin said. “You can’t do that in boxing.”

Originally published as Tim Tszyu’s cutman Mark Gambin reveals exactly what was in his ointment after mass condemnation