Tim Tszyu is having a great run, but a revolutionary 2023. Tszyu positioned himself to be the WBO junior middleweight number-one contender and was ready to face Jermell Charlo in January of 2023. Charlo, unfortunately, had an injury, but Tszyu didn’t care as he stopped Tony Harrison earlier this year.
Now, this Saturday, live on Showtime, Tim Tszyu looks to make his first defense of his WBO interim junior middleweight world title, against Carlos Ocampo, in a scheduled twelve-round fight from the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, in Queensland, Australia.
In preparation for this weekend’s major bout with massive implications across the division and boxing at-large, let’s explore the five best knockouts of Tim Tszyu’s career
Tony Harrison
Spending the majority of his career in Australia, many doubted Tim Tszyu when he faced former world champion, Tony Harrison, the only man to be the undisputed junior middleweight world champion, Jermell Charlo. What we saw was a star-making performance from Tszyu, who beatdown and tired out Tony Harrison, as it was a mixture of a weaponized pace combined with effective and strategically placed punches that led to a ninth-round technical knockout.
The lasting image of this fight with Harrison seemingly out on his feet, might become one of the iconic images of Tszyu’s career. As Tszyu proved he was not just a great Australian fighter, but a world-class fighter, one who might challenge for boxer of the year if he continues these types of performances.
Steve Spark
Many now know of Steve Spark after defeating Montana Love via disqualification in an awkward bout that happened in the fall of last year. Spark before dropping down two weight classes was a junior middleweight who was causing a lot of issues for many fighters in Australia. Though few will revisit this contest, Spark created a competitive bout as the two exchanged and looked to stop each other. The end result was Tszyu had a little more technic and power - giving him a third-round technical knockout
Dennis Hogan
Dennis Hogan is a European Mauricio Herrera of sorts. He never gets credit for how tricky he is. Hogan often spoils the party and has made a few prospects lose their highly coveted spot in the sport even in a loss, think Jaime Munguia for instance. Hogan has only been stopped twice in his career and that was to Jermall Charlo and Tim Tszyu in consecutive fights - albeit Hogan took a two-year break between the fights. Tszyu stopped Hogan in five rounds, whereas Jermall, the older Charlo brother, who fought Hogan at a higher weight class stopped him in seven. An impressive feat.
Jeff Horn
A classic moment in which for Tszyu to become the man in Australia he had to defeat the man of yesteryear. Jeff Horn, however, scored the bout and defeated Manny Pacquiao, and that made him a folk hero in Australia. Tszyu brutalized the physical fighter, Horn, dropping him in rounds three and six before stopping him in the eighth round. This was the passing of the torch moment in which Tszyu elevated into a position of possibly becoming the next guy to emerge from Australia. Since this bout, Horn has never fought again as we are slowly approaching the fight's third year anniversary in August.
Jack Brubaker
It might not be the most iconic knockout of the career of Tim Tszyu, but it signaled his graduation from being a domestic-level fighter to a world-class fighter as after he stopped Jack Brubaker, Tszyu would begin his ascent to the top and dethrone Jeff Horn. The hallmark of this fight was Brubaker’s team throwing in the towel in round four due to the one-sided nature of the fight. This fight proved that Tszyu needed to face the best of Australia.
