Tim Tszyu defeats Jeff Horn: Round by round recap
Опубликованно 27.08.2020 01:48
In the pre-fight build up it was made clear the winner of the all-Aussie brawl was immediately going to become the next WBO world title mandatory challenger for Patrick Texeira’s world championship belt — and the sheer class of Tszyu showed that he is ready for the step up to the top of the boxing world.
He outclassed Horn from the outset, winning every single round while calmly continuing his dominance in the later rounds when it became clear Horn was just holding on.
In the end the killer blows arrived in the eighth round.
Here’s how the carnage played out.
Round 1:
As Ted Cofie said in commentary it was a “dream” first round for Tsyzu.
Horn, as expected, was the aggressor early and let his opponent know he was in a fight quickly.
But Tszyu didn’t rattle and almost immediately began turning his opponent when Horn rushed in and landing the better shots. His right hand made some sweet connections, while Horn was already drawing referee Phil Austin’s attention, copping a warning for a hit to the back of Tszyu’s head.
Most expected Tszyu to have to weather an early storm but Horn couldn’t make it rain.
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Round 2:
There were only 10 seconds off the clock when Horn was warned for holding. “Knock it off,” Austin said.
The Queenslander was intent on making it ugly. “Horn does want to make this rough, and he’ll keep trying,” commentator Ben Damon said.
But Austin wasn’t going to play those games and stopped the fight a minute into the round. “All I’ve seen so far from the pair of you is wrestling,” he said. “Knock this crap off and box, the pair of you. Do you understand me?”
It tilted the bout in Tsyzu’s favour and he took advantage of the separation, hitting Horn repeatedly from distance with his right hand.
“Tsyzu is doing exactly what he needs to do to win this fight,” Aussie boxing legend Jeff Fenech said in commentary.
Tim Tszyu punches down at a ducking Jeff Horn. Picture: Matt Taylor
Round 3:
By the third Tszyu was in complete control. Dominating proceedings from the centre of the ring, he could sense he had Horn’s measure.
The Queenslander could barely land a punch and just didn’t have his regular energy as Tszyu began to pick his shots.
Tsyzu showed he was than a match strength-wise, throwing Horn to the canvas on two occasions in the middle of the round — but they weren’t knock downs.
But he smelled blood and — after a warning for a shot to the back of Horn’s head — began hurting him with heavy shots.
“Tim’s boxing beautifully,” Cofie said.
Every desperate Horn lunge was easily evaded and then with 20 seconds left in the round Tszyu caught him with a left hook after ushering him past like a matador.
Horn was down for the first time and in serious trouble.
“You can’t let him come to you, you’ve got to go to him,” Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton implored from the corner. “Fast off the mark!”
Round 4:
Horn succeeeded in slowing Tszyu down early in the fourth, tying him up and fighting on the inside.
But as Fenech had predicted, the younger man introduced his uppercut to proceedings — with devastating effect.
He stunned Horn with a sweetly-timed chin rattler and followed it with a heavy straight right as he looked for a finish.
It was all one-way traffic. Tszyu was cool as a cucumber while Horn was gassed.
“What an exquisite boxing performance we’re seeing from the young man Tim Tszyu,” Damon said.
“He’s not even breathing, mate,” Fenech said as Tszyu sat calmly in his corner. “He’s so composed.”
Jeff Horn takes a knee. Picture: Alix Sweeney
Round 5:
Again Horn was able to slow proceedings in the early stages of the round but Tszyu had a spring in his step and started charging forwards for the first time.
He followed his jab with a right uppercut with success on two occasions and was able to fight without any fear of return fire.
Tsyzu began showing off his full arsenal, hurting Horn with a left bodyshot.
“Don’t know that we’ve seen Jeff Horn hurt to the body like that before,” Damon said. “It certainly affected him.”
“Tim is boxing a masterclass,” Cofie said. “It’s weird because Tim on the inside is bullying Jeff, which should really Jeff’s place to be comfortable.”
Rushton was getting desperate in the Horn corner: “You can beat him, you’ve just got to keep it simple.”
Round 6:
Man, that body work. Tszyu had found the spot on his opponent’s body that could end the fight and ripped Horn’s midsection.
The first blow had Horn retreating and wincing in pain, the second forced him to take a knee.
The fight was looking like a complete mismatch at this point. “He doesn’t need any more this guy,” Fenech said.
“Horn is being beaten up,” Damon added.
One member of Horn’s team was heard saying to him in his corner “either get out, or f***ing punch” earning a rebuke from Fenech.
“This is when I feel sorry for Jeff. These guys are telling him to do this or do that — he’s got nothing left.”
Cofie added: “Clearly he’s got nothing left. I’ve got the fight 60-53 with the two knockdowns — and that’s scoring the first round even, very generously. It’s one-way traffic.”
Round 7:
Tsyzu continued to stay patient, slipping in a jab here, delivering a right hand there, before again delivering a thundering body blow with 40 seconds on the clock.
It was so one-sided the commentary turned to Tszyu’s future in the sport. “A lot of people are learning Tim Tszyu is better than they thought,” Damon said. “Wow.”
Round 8:
It started to get a little hard to watch in the eighth as Tszyu landed right hand after right hand to Horn’s head. But it was the body shots that were hurting the most and a series of blows to his side took the last bit of life out of him.
As an exhausted Horn slumped in his corner, his entourage was discussing whether or not to throw in the towel.
Some said they didn’t want him to go back out there. “I don’t want to,” one member of the team repeated.
Kneeling in front of Horn, Rushton asked his fighter a couple of times: “What do you want to do? I want to do what you want to do.”
When he didn’t answer, one of the those advocating for a retirement said: “That says it all.”
But Rushton continued, asking Horn if he had one last effort left in the tank.
“Have you got a punch left in you or not?” he said. “Do you want to give us a minute?”
Horn eventually shook his head — and Tsyzu was the winner.
Tim Tszyu celebrates victory in his fight against Jeff Horn. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
THE CARD
Tim Tszyu defeated Jeff Horn via eighth round stoppage
Issac Hardman defeated Jamie Weetch via first round stoppage
Liam Wilson defeats Jackson Woods via second round stoppage
Shannon O‘Connell defeated Kylie Fulmer via seventh-round stoppage
Joel Camilleri defeated Adam Copland via unanimous decision (79-73 x 2, 78-73)
Ben Horn defeated Patrick Clark via unanimous decision (40-36 x 2, 39-37)
Jessica Cashman defeated Linn Sandstrom via unanimous decision (40-37, 39-37 x 2)
Vegas Larfiel defeated Ricky Hunt via first-round stoppage
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