Tszyu and Horn camps already bickering over details of proposed super fight
Both claim to be the ‘A side’ in any match-up, yet someone is going to play second fiddle in negotiations if a Jeff Horn v Tim Tszyu superbout is to get the go ahead.
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A war of words has already erupted over the hosting rights of the planned $6 million bout between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu next year.
Horn’s promoter Dean Lonergan confirmed talks are underway with Tszyu’s promoter Matt Rose regarding the super-fight, however he slammed suggestions that Tszyu is the “A side” of the event.
Rose said: “Tim Tszyu got twice as many people to attend his fight against Jack Brubaker two weeks as what Jeff Horn got against [Michael] Zerafa last night.
“Tim Tszyu has got a bigger following in Australia than Horn now. So Tim is the A side, and Horn will have to come to Sydney to fight him.
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“If Horn wants to be the pound-for-pound No.1 fighter in Australia, he’s got to beat Tim Tszyu, because beating Zerafa doesn’t make him the pound-for-pound best.”
Nearly 2000 fans cheered Horn to victory against Zerafa at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday night, while 4000 spectators watched Tszyu stop Brubaker a fortnight ago in Sydney.
“Matt Rose and Tim Tszyu are delusional if they think he is a bigger name in Australian boxing than Jeff Horn, they are kidding themselves,” Lonergan said.
“For the first fight against Zerafa in Bendigo, where Jeff is not from, we got 4500 people into the arena.
“Tim has done nothing in his career except fight club fighters from Sydney.
“Stack up Tim’s opponents. Where is Manny Pacquiao, where is Randall Bailey, where is Terence Crawford or Anthony Mundine or Michael Zerafa?
“Tim hasn’t fought one fighter who looks like they’d come close to a world title, let alone be a world champion.”
Horn 20-2-1 (13KO) won the WBA Oceania and WBO Oriental middleweight titles with his majority points win over Zerafa, but will be stepping back down to super-welterweight where Tszyu (15-0, 11KO) is campaigning.
Their bout would likely be a world title eliminator, and Horn believes his Sydney rival is stepping up too quickly in class.
“Tim Tszyu has definitely got the skills to go up there and fight with the best, but whether he’s got it just yet I don’t know,” Horn said.
Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton made no bones about where the fight should be held.
“Personally I believe if Tim Tszyu wants to fight Jeff Horn he should come to Queensland,” Rushton said.
“Jeff is the A side, I believe Jeff Horn is the biggest name in Australian boxing and really if he wants to fight Jeff, bring it up here.”
Originally published as Tszyu and Horn camps already bickering over details of proposed super fight
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