‘What’s my motherf***ing name’: Tim Tszyu def Tony Harrison, puts Jermell Charlo on notice
Tim Tszyu has put America and the world on notice with a dominant win over Tony Harrison that silenced even his harshest critics.
One small step for Tim, one giant leap out of Kostya’s shadow.
Tim Tszyu has proved he is the real deal with a dominant win via TKO over Tony Harrison to claim the interim WBO super welterweight world title and put the world on notice.
Tszyu was favoured to win but faced the toughest challenge of his career against Harrison, but he kept his undefeated record in tact (22-0, 16KOs).
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The Australian went on the offensive early, constantly striking with a left hook and capitalising on Harrison’s over reliance on his jab.
Tszyu rocked Harrison with a right hook in the third round and from there he always had the upper hand.
He finished the job in the ninth round, rattling Harrison’s chin with countless uppercuts to send him crashing to the canvas.
The exuberant American tried to continue but the referee said enough was enough and spared him from further pain.
Tszyu dominated the fight but all three judges had him only marginally ahead 77-75 at the time of the stoppage.
Tszyu may have defeated Harrison, but his red sparkly shorts planted firmly on the canvas also represented Tszyu silencing his doubters in the US after constant criticism that he hadn’t beaten a fighter of note yet.
The 28-year-old took a huge risk by even stepping in the ring with Harrison given a fight with Charlo was already locked in and he could have waited for him to recover from a hand injury.
Harrison is the only man to ever beat unified super welterweight world champion Jermell Charlo, and Tszyu has now proved he is more than ready to take on the loud-talking champion who intentionally makes fun of his surname.
“What’s my motherf***ing name?,” Tszyu exclaimed in the ring.
“I just beat the man who beat the man. What does that make me?”
Asked to send a message to Charlo and his doubters, Tszyu replied: “The message was sent clearly. You know what’s up. You know what’s next. I’m coming.
“Australia you know, the world you know. What’s my motherf***ing name?”
It was also a pointed message to his critics who believe he will never reach the heights of his famous father Kostya.
The former world champion now lives in Russia and wasn’t in Sydney to watch his son in action, but he tuned in via FaceTime.
It was still a family affair, with mum Natalia sitting ringside and Tim’s younger brother Nikita impressing with victory earlier on the main card.
On Main Event, Paul Kent labelled Tszyu a “stone cold killer” for his brutal finish to the fight.
“I think it’s just a little step in my career. It was a big message to a lot of people,” Tszyu said post fight.
“He’s (Harrison) very smart and experienced in what he does, when I started throwing I got a bit excited and then I thought about how Charlo knocked him out and he went with uppercuts. “So for that split second he was in my head and I started throwing the uppercuts.
“I knew he was going to slow down in the later rounds. I actually predicted round 9 to my team.
“Round 9 was when I was going to start picking it up and start landing the shots. I didn’t know the exact shot that I landed first to rock him but I knew that he was slowing down.”
“In all honesty, during the rounds I was thinking ‘this is an easy fight, I’m not even tired here ... what’s going on this guy is supposed to be good’,” Tszyu added.
Time will tell if the boxing world gets the Tszyu vs Charlo blockbuster it wants, with rumours already swirling the champion could vacate his super welterweight belts to move up to middleweight to fight brother Jermall.
Charlo responded shortly after the fight was over and despite Tszyu’s dominance, the American wasn’t worried about a potential showdown.
“He doesn’t really show a lot of athleticism to me. When you’ve got skills, and you’ve got styles and you’ve got power all together, you get four belts. He’s going to be a tough fight because he’s coming forward, but I think he’s perfect for my style,” he said.
“I know he can’t take my punch, because I just know my punch is different. It just made me want to fight, just get this over with, shut him up, I’ve shut a lot of them up, it’s just another one.
“He’s going to do the same thing. He’s not going to change much.”
Tszyu vs Harrison round-by-round updates
Here we go. Tszyu and Harrison have entered the ring.
Tszyu’s ringwalk was red-hot. He paused underneath a hanging pyrotechniques with ‘Tszyu’ lit up by fireworks.
Now Tim Tszyu coming out to the Desperado music... This will be the fight of the year. #TszyuHarrison#boxing
— caleb truax (@GoldenCalebT) March 12, 2023
Round 1: A cautious start by both fighters as they size each other up. Harrison’s jab looks dangerous but Tszyu landed a few power shots to end a tense first round. First blood to Tszyu.
Round 2: Tszyu is walking forward and throwing left and right hands at Harrison. The American has a lethal left lab that looms as his biggest weapon. Tszyu will have to out-jab him.
“Right now it’s the jab of Harrison and the power of Tszyu,” Main Event commentator Ben Damon said.
Round 3: Tszyu is hunting a left hook. He turned up the heat with a right hand that nearly sent Harrison to the canvas, with a few uppercuts mixed in for good measure.
“Tim Tszyu, he rocks Tony Harrison! Now he starts to pour in big shots,” Ben Damon said.
“Harrison, he's definitely hurt now.
“Tszyu is turning full Soultaker here.”
Jeff Fenech added of Harrison: “The eyes are glassy.”
Round 4: Harrison has to pick up the pace to hang in there and he does just that. But Tszyu has found his rhythm and matched every punch in that round.
“He’s (Harrison) never been hit like this before,” Jeff Fenech said.
Round 5: Tszyu is well on top here and connected with a straight right and is taking advantage of Harrison waiting a touch too long to connect with his jab.
Round 6: It’s nearly panic stations for Harrison. Tszyu has him on the ropes, connecting with a left hook and right jab to the face as he walked towards Harrison in search of body shots.
Round 7: A less eventful round, as Harrison stuck his tongue out he’s tiring. Harrison has landed more overall punches but Tszyu has connected with far more powershots.
Round 8: Harrison is hanging in there, connecting with a couple of shots to the head but Tszyu is still on top. Both fighters are starting to tire but Harrison got a welcome break hen the referee paused the fight to wipe some sweat off the ground.
Round 9: Wow. Tszyu turned into an absolute machine, rattling Harrison’s chin with countless uppercuts, sending him crashing to the canvas. Harrison tried to continue but the referee stoppedit.
3.25pm - Aokuso, Goodman win
Rising Aussie boxing stars Sam Goodman and Paulo Aokuso have remained undefeated after claiming unanimous decision victories as the undercard wrapped up.
Goodman defeated TJ Doheny and Aokuso showed off plenty of talent and showmanship as he took care Yunieski Gonzales, with both fights going the distance.
2.30pm - Hardman blasts ‘disgusting’ scoring
Issac Hardman narrowly lost his middleweight fight with Rohan Murdock via split decision, and he was absolutely fuming.
Two judges scored the fight in Murdock’s favour (97-92 x 2), but the third judge gave it to Hardman 96-93.
Murdock clearly had the advantage in the early rounds but Hardman fought back in the latter stages with some uppercuts, and thought he had done enough to have his hand raised.
The Queenslander was stunned when Murdock was named the winner and he blew up, shaking his head and giving the judges a piece of his mind ringside
Murdock (27-2, 12KO) handed Hardman the second loss of his career (13-2, 11KO) after another polarising Aussie boxer, Michael Zerafa, knocked him out last year. Hardman was in tears after the fight as he let rip at the disparity in the judges’ scoring, calling for a total overhaul of boxing judging in Australia.
“I’m 26-years-old, and the dinosaurs in the f***ing corner, they’ve had their go,” Hardman told reporters.
“Revamp the Australian National Boxing Federation.
“Get rid of them. It needs a cleanout, whoever it is. It needs a cleanout. One ref gave it 92-98. That’s eight rounds to me — plus he got a point taken off him. What the f**k is that.
“Then the other ref gives in 92-97? What is that? It’s ridiculous.
“It’s really frustrating. I’ve seen it happen to my team, and it’s the same judges. One judge in particular, I won’t say his name, but one judge there, have always given us a bad go. Always. It’s disgusting, it really is. It’s f***ed.
Hardman added: “It was a close fight. But there’s something fishy going on.”
1.30pm - Harrison is ‘nowhere to be seen’
Tony Harrison left No Limit Boxing organisers a little uneasy after he pulled a “no show” at Qudos Bank Arena.
The brash American did not arrive at the western Sydney stadium until one hour before the scheduled start time for his title fight.
It comes as mystery swirls about his journey to the venue. His car is reported to have left his hotel more than an hour before he arrived. His drive should have just been 25 minutes, according to Main Event’s Charmaine Mifsud.
The American’s dressing room was deserted more than 90 minutes after Tszyu had arrived following his brother’s big knockout win.
“Tony Harrison is nowhere to be seen,” Main Event’s Ben Damon said.
“Tony Harrison is still not in the venue. We’re not really sure what’s transpiring, but he’s not here. We know that much. Hopefully he turns up.”
However, American fight legend Shawn Porter laughed off the intrigue.
He said it appears Harrison simply ignored the schedule he had been handed.
“Tony moves to the beat of his own drum, if you guys haven’t figured that out by now,” Porter said on Main Event.
“If anybody thought he was going to be here three or four hours before the fight, obviously not. You were wrong all along.”
Harrison eventually arrived wearing a red tracksuit, with headphones in and playing chess on his phone.
That’s one way to take the phrase ‘playing chess not checkers’ to a whole new level.
12.30pm — Nikita Tszyu Butchers another opponent
Nikita Tszyu has recorded the fourth knockout win of his career with a brutal pummelling of Bo Belbin.
The 25-year-old’s star continues to rise as his record improved to 5-0.
Tszyu left Belbin bloodied in the third round and the fight was stopped minutes later in the fourth.
Belbin and Tszyu hugged immediately after the fight was stopped with Belbin’s face looking like something one would normally see in a butcher shop.
Aussie boxing icon Jeff Fenech said it was the “best version of Nikita I’ve seen so far” in commentary on Main Event.
‘My god’: Tooth goes flying as fighter knocked out
There was a brutal start to the star-studded undercard as Russian Imam Khatev demolished Gi Sung Gwak.
Aussie boxing legend Barry Michael was calling for the fight to be stopped just 60 seconds into the first round as Gi Sung Gwak suffered a barrage of shots.
It was a short-range left hook that was the telling blow as the South Korean stumbled to the floor in the second round.
The referee jumped in to stop the fight despite Gi Sung Gwak getting back to his feet.
Replays after the fight showed Khatev’s hook sent one of Gi Sung Gwak’s teeth flying out of the ring and into the first row of seats.
“My god,” Michael said.
“What a beautiful short left hook. Bang, flush on the chin. There is a tooth.”
Main Event’s Paul Kent said “it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that” in relation to Gwak’s flying tooth.
Tszyu’s insane eight-hour weight gain
Tim Tszyu packed on eight kilos in eight hours in a bonkers 24 hours heading into the biggest day of his career.
While it is common for boxer’s to regain 5kg after a weigh-in the day before a fight, it is rare for a fighter to carry an additional 18lb.
According to Fox Sports’ Cody Kaye, Tszyu stacked on 8kg in a matter of hours.
He is expected to walk into the ring at up to 168 pounds after weighing in at 153.6lb.
Harrison also stepped off the scales at 153.5lb.
Speaking moments before the weigh-in, Tszyu stressed his weight cut had been much easier than for previous fights.
“I’m ready man, ready to go,” he said.
Tszyu will come in closer to super middleweight today. He’d put on 8kg by 4pm yesterday. #TszyuHarrison
— cody kaye (@Cody_KayeFOX) March 11, 2023
“My body feels in the best shape it’s ever been.
“The whole lead up has brought me to this moment.”
‘He doesn’t respect him’: American’s big mistake
Aussie boxing guru Barry Michael believes Tim Tszyu will score one of the biggest wins in Australian boxing by knocking out Tony Harrison.
Michael said he has watched Harrison’s preparation for the fight closely and believes his camp has made a big mistake.
“The whole build up to it, I just get the feeling that the American’s are totally underestimating Tim’s power and his boxing ability,” Michael said on Main Event on Sunday.
“I think if Tim gets through the first four rounds, I think he will start to break him down. This guy’s lost three fights, all by knock out late in fights. Tim Tszyu for a knockout for me.”
Paul Kent meanwhile said: “He (Harrison) is extremely confident. He doesn’t respect what Tim Tszyu has done. He doesn’t respect anyone of any standing that he’s fought and in some ways he is right. This is a massive step up for Tim Tszyu.”
— With additional reporting by Tyson Otto
Full fight card results
Tim Tszyu def Tony Harrison via TKO (R9)
Paulo Aokuso def Yunieski Gonzales via unanimous decision (97-92, 99-90, 100-89)
Sam Goodman def TJ Doheny via unanimous decision (97-92, 98-92, 100-89)
Rohan Murdock def Issac Hardman via split decision (97-92 x 2, 93-96)
Nikita Tszyu def Bo Belbin via TKO (R4)
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Ben Mahoney-Koen Mazoudier draw (97-93, 94-97, 95-95)
Shanell Dargan defeated Courtney Martin via unanimous decision (39x37, 40-36 x2)
Imam Khatev defeated Gi Sung Gwak via knockout, Round 2
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