Unified 154 pound champ Jermell Charlo might not have liked what he saw from his upcoming challenger Tim Tszyu, but last night’s ultra-impressive, no-nonsense showing from the unbeaten Australian certainly received plenty of rave reviews. No less than Terence Crawford was moved to put out a short message on social media after watching Tszyu take out Carlos Ocampo inside one round – “He’s Dangerous,” Crawford wrote after watching Tszyu take care of business in his stay-busy fight.
Tszyu, improving to 23-0(17) with the quick win over Mexico’s Ocampo, is the fastest man to have stopped Ocampo. Errol Spence stopped Ocampo at the end of the first round back in June of 2018, this with a body shot. But Tszyu got the win in just 77-seconds, this with a ruthless display of punching, Tszyu dropping his man with a right hand and then finishing Ocampo with a huge left hook to the head. Tszyu’s win was impressive when we consider how Ocampo had, in October of last year, taken Sebastian Fundora the full 12 rounds in a WBC interim super-welter title fight.
Tszyu, wanting to stay busy while he waits for unified champion Charlo to heal up and be ready to rumble, might have wanted a few rounds of action last night, but he instead scored a win in a flash.
Crawford isn’t the only big name of the sport to have been suitably impressed by Tszyu’s work.
“That was impressive,” wrote Tony Harrison, who has faced both Tszyu and Charlo.
“This is a big problem for Charlo. Look at all this momentum on the side of Tim Tszyu. Everything’s on Tim’s side to win this fight. Tim Tszyu is now the favourite to win and become undisputed,” said Shawn Porter.
And Aussie boxing legend Jeff Fenech has gone as far as to suggest Tim Tszyu may go on to become an even great fighter than his father, Kostya Tszyu.
There is no doubt about it, Jermell Charlo faces an incredibly stiff challenge in October (if this is when the fight takes place, the one we’ve been waiting for for months). As good as Charlo is, the upcoming fight could prove to be the toughest of his entire career. That’s how good, how special Tim Tszyu looks to be.
“There’s no doubt I’m going to America, that’s the land I want to conquer,” a victorious Tszyu said. “I’m not satisfied with his interim belt – I want all four and I want the name Charlo on my resume.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m strongly leaning towards Tszyu getting what he wants when this fight rolls around.
