Boxing: Darcy Lussick wins NRL grudge match; Tim Tszyu defeats Jack Brubaker

Justin Hodges was floored in just 39 seconds as Darcy Lussick won their NRL grudge match while Tim Tszyu continued his unbeaten run.

Darcy Lussick didn’t show Justin Hodges any mercy.

Boxing’s latest rugby league convert Darcy Lussick is targeting a fight with former AFL star Barry Hall after stopping Justin Hodges in just 39 seconds on Friday night.

A big right hand dropped former Queensland and Kangaroos star Hodges, who despite beating the count was ruled unfit to continue.

The two men spent the opening moments feeling each other out before they tangled and when they split Lussick unleashed a hellacious hook on Hodges’ chin, which sent him head first into the canvas.

Hodges got back to his feet, albeit looking like a newborn foal, and tried convincing the referee he was fine — but his eyes showed he was in another dimension and the fight came to an end.

It means any hopes Hodges had of fighting fellow NRL great Paul Gallen are dashed but a cross-code war is still on the cards for Lussick, who was making his debut.

Shortly after the fight, the Toronto Wolfpack star and former Manly and Parramatta forward called out Hall, who recently drew with Gallen in his first boxing bout.

“I’ve gone through every scenario in my head about a thousand times over the last couple of weeks but I’m glad I got it done early,” Lussick said.

“I heard Barry Hall is looking for a fight, so if he’s keen we’ll try and work something out.

“I’m free if he wants to fight.”

It continued the trend of early-finishing bouts for Hodges, but this time he was on the wrong end after winning his two previous fights inside a combined two minutes.

Among those watching from ringside were rugby league stars Latrell Mitchell, Jack Wighton and Cody Walker and former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh.

CHECK OUT LUSSICK’S KO IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

Lussick was ecstatic with the quick finish.

Hodges was down and out.

TSZYU IS ONE SON OF A GUN

Tim Tszyu believes he will be ready whenever a boxing world title shot comes, after a convincing fourth-round stoppage of fellow Sydneysider Jack Brubaker.

Tszyu landed the harder blows throughout Friday night’s fight in Sydney, frequently tagging Brubaker with hard right-hand shots to the head.

The end came when Brubaker’s trainer Jeff Fenech threw the towel in 91 seconds into round four, sparing his charge further punishment, as he was clearly wilting under Tszyu’s relentless bombardment.

Underdog Brubaker, who moved up a division for the fight, tried to come forward to pressure Tszyu, but had little success.

Tszyu had comfortably won the opening three rounds of the fight as Brubaker looked helpless to stop the flood of punches being thrown his way.

The son of boxing legend Kostya Tszyu turned up the heat in the third round and once the bell sounded to get the fourth underway he charged across the ring and unleashed.

With Brubaker stuck on the ropes, Tszyu let his hands fly and landed blow after blow, giving Fenech no other option but to throw in the towel.

Tszyu, the IBF No. 7 and WBO No. 12-rated junior middleweight, improved his undefeated record to 15-0 with 11 KOs and retained a couple of regional titles with his fourth win of the year.

Tszyu said he was showing off different things and was just getting warmed up when the bout ended.

“I was just getting started. That was just a warm up, I’m just getting started,” Tszyu said.

“We want world titles and we want them in Sydney.

“There’s always room for improvement. I got hit a few times but I think I’m getting better.”

Asked if he was ready for a world title shot, Tszyu said: “I’ll be ready for it whenever it is — it’s all up to my team.

Brubaker dropped to 16-3-2.

OTHER AUSSIES FALL FLAT

Two Australians, Trent Broadhurst and Nathaniel May, each failed in their attempts to win a regional title against an overseas-born opponent in other fights on last night’s card.

A perforated eardrum effectively cost former light heavyweight contender Broadhurst any chance of toppling New Zealand’s David Light, who won their WBO Oriental cruiserweight fight on a third-round stoppage.

Broadhurst went down twice in both the second and third rounds, with balance issues rather than heavy punches his biggest problem.

Light rated 14th by the WBO, one place below Australian Jai Opetaia who he split two amateur bouts with and wants to fight as a professional.

West Australian May was outworked and lost a unanimous 10-round points decision to Tanzania’s IBF International super featherweight champion Bruno Tarimo in an entertaining bout.

Tarimo is the sparring partner for Australia’s interim WBA super flyweight champion Andrew Moloney and his twin and world-ranked bantamweight Jason, both of whom were cheering him on from ringside.