Tim Tszyu and Jeff Horn engage in war of words after title fight
Tim Tszyu has panned Jeff Horn’s boxing skills after becoming Australia’s new super-welterweight champion - and Horn has fired straight back.
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FIGHT NIGHT: How Tszyu beat Camilleri
Tim Tszyu has panned Jeff Horn’s boxing skills after becoming Australia’s new super-welterweight champion.
With rival Horn watching from ringside, Tszyu (13-0, 10KO) put on a 10-round clinic to wrest the belt from previous champion Joel Camilleri by unanimous decision, propelling him further towards a showdown with Horn next year.
“At some stage I’d love to fight Horn,” Tszyu said.
“But as a boxer - I don’t think he’s the best boxer, he’s just got an awkward style.
“Horn is in his own little world, actually.
“As soon as Horn calls my manager Glen [Jennings] or [promoter] Matty Rose, let’s talk.
“We’re not going to approach him, because I know he’s going to run out of options sometime soon, and when he runs out of those options, he’ll know who to call.”
Camilleri was gracious in defeat, and even urged promoter Matt Rose to put him on the undercard of Tszyu’s next fight, which could be against Camilleri’s Melbourne training partner Michael Zerafa in August.
“I think it’s a great fight, Tim is a great talent, he’s going to keep getting better and better every fight he has. Zerafa has had 20-odd fights, Tim’s had 13 now,” Camilleri said.
“It’s a potential match-up in the future and I think the Tszyu, Zerafa, Horn are very great fights so hopefully some time in the near future they will fight.”
Rose said he is keen to stage Tszyu’s future fights at bigger venues in Sydney, after selling out Wednesday’s show at The Star Casino.
“Tim’s now rated No.15 in the world with the WBA and IBF, and after that performance he’ll climb in the world ratings,” Rose said.
“It’s not too long before he’ll fight for a world title, it’s up to Tim to knock them out, as a team we’ll line them up for him.
“We’re pretty keen to bring the big fights to Sydney too, I believe there’s a fan base in Sydney for boxing and we’ve got to create bigger fights and bigger moments.
“We’d like to move to Qudos Arena, we sold out here so we need a bigger venue.”
HORN READY TO TEACH TSZYU A LESSON
- By Grantlee Kieza
“I definitely see myself taking care of Tim Tszyu at this stage,’’ Horn said.
“He won’t last in my classroom. The exam I set will be too tough.
“I don’t think Tim’s ready for me and I’ve still got big fish to fry. But if it’s a fight that people want to see and it sells, I’ll gladly fight him.
“Good on him for calling me out. He’s got the surname but it’s yet to be proven that he’s got the talent of his father. It’s a hard name to live up to.’’
Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton said he would take a fight with Tszyu in heartbeat.
“Tim Tszyu is not his father and there’s no way he’s ready for Jeff Horn,’’ Rushton said.
Anthem drama erupts amid boxing farce
Middleweight king Janibek Alimkhanuly’s title defence against Andrei Mikhailovich in Sydney has been rocked by farcical scenes.
‘Punishment for what he did’: Janibek makes brave Kiwi pay
Friday night’s world title fight descended into a farce before the bell rung, but despite the wrong national anthem being played for middleweight world champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, the Kazakh king took care of business.