It’s Father’s Day weekend, and what a way to celebrate than to have a night full of boxing. Plenty of things didn’t go as anticipated, and some raised a good eyebrow for what's to come.
TIM TSZYU IS A REAL MONSTER & IT’S TIME TO START BELIEVING IT
When it comes to packing an arena in Australia, Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) can certainly do that, and he once again proved that he is a box office attraction in his home country. While he awaits the undisputed fight against Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs), Tszyu continues to stay busy with fights that should be competitive enough to challenge his undefeated record, but they do not. The Tony Harrison fight was supposed to be challenging until it wasn’t, and Tszyu made it look easy.
Carlos Ocampo (34-3, 22 KOs) last night was supposed to be a durable test that should’ve given Tszyu rounds as he did with Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1) in October, but he didn’t, and it wasn’t even close. The first right hand that Tszyu landed rocked Ocampo, and from there, he knew that Ocampo was ripe for the picking. Tszyu never seemed to be in trouble and kept coming, as Ocampo had nothing to stop the offensive onslaught. The final punch ending the fight was a left hook that Ocampo didn’t see coming as he leaned to his right side. The roar from the crowd was equivalent to something you would hear from the Roman Coliseum captured in films, with those in attendance wanting to get their pound of flesh.
STATEMENT. MADE. @Tim_Tszyu dominates Carlos Ocampo with a thunderous first-round knockout π±#TszyuOcampo pic.twitter.com/DbtMpDT63s
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) June 18, 2023
Tszyu is undoubtedly a star in his home country, and now it’s time for him to make his splash in the U.S. Although risky, Tszyu took fights instead of sitting around waiting for Charlo to heal. Fighters today would have sat out and not risked potentially losing out on the more significant fight down the road. Not Tszyu; he stays active and looks more impressive each time. What he’s also done is now made the Charlo fight a must-see PPV event. Everyone was already anticipating the fight, but these two performances have captured the imagination of many, and now the undisputed bout is a mega fight. Sometimes you just have to bet on yourself, and Tszyu did precisely that. 2023 will go down as the year boxing made the biggest fights happen after years of marinating with certain matchups.
REGIS PROGRAIS FELL FLAT IN HIS HOMECOMING
πππππ βοΈ#PrograisZorrilla | @RPrograis pic.twitter.com/XB4UXTxRsI
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 18, 2023
It was supposed to be a big homecoming with celebrations taking place up and down Bourbon Street in downtown New Orleans, LA, but instead, it ended up being a mediocre main event. It wasn’t that Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) wasn’t trying to produce a great fight in front of family and friends, it was just his opponent Danielito Zorrilla (17-2, 13 KOs), wasn’t trying to give that to the WBC champ. Zorrilla knew that being in a firefight with Prograis wasn’t the right game plan and that he had to stink it out to win a decision. He failed at that as Prograis still pulled away with the decision; however, Zorrilla made it close enough to make the scorecard announcement highly anticipated.
Prograis was knocked down early in the fight but held on to Zorrilla on the way down, causing the referee to call it an erroneous slip. Prograis did score a knockdown with a straight left hand afterward, but the rest of the night, there was just a lot of waiting and missed punches by the WBC junior welterweight champion. Prograis admitted that the pressure of fighting at home may have affected his performance, but he was eager to return to the gym to work on his deficiencies. Saturday’s performance may entice some of the other junior welterweights to go after Prograis, but I would say that they should proceed with caution as I don’t anticipate Prograis looking like he did last night against those other big names.
THE RAMLA ALI TRAIN WAS TEMPORARILY DERAILED
What a shot by Alejandra Guzman π―#PrograisZorrilla pic.twitter.com/jjg9R9Ffcn
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 18, 2023
Since her debut in 2021, Ramla Ali (8-1, 2 KOs) has had a ton of buzz behind her and, since then, has made more of a living outside of the ring than in it. With her modeling career taking off, a biopic in the making, and a fight away from a title shot, it was safe to safe Ali was on her way to stardom until last night. Julissa Guzman (13-2-2, 7 KOs) had her own story that involved getting over adversity that stemmed from a broken forearm and depression that followed it when her boxing career was in jeopardy. From the start, it was clear that Guzman was ready for war and she would not be just another opponent to the rising star in Ali.
Guzman was landing the overhand right early and often as Ali did not have an answer. Although Guzman was finding success with that punch, Ali was landing enough punches to open up a nasty cut over Guzman’s left eye. Still, Guzman would hurt Ali badly when she landed the overhand right, which made Ali brace for that punch. The mistake Ali made was that she was focused so much on that punch landing that she didn’t see the left hook coming, and when it landed flush in the eighth round, it knocked her out and ended the fight.
Guzman has become another feel-good story for 2023 and was added to the list of upsets this year. Ali was a heavy odds favorite, and Guzman proved that you still have to fight the fights. Now she moves on to face WBA champion Mayerlin Rivas (17-4-3, 11 KOs) at some point down the road in a fight she has rightfully earned.
