Tim Tszyu Defeats Jeff Horn Without Breaking A Sweat!
After eight destructive rounds of action, Tim Tszyu (16-0, 12 KO’s) forced Jeff “The Hornet” Horn (20-3-1, 13 KO’s) to retire on his stool. With the impressive win, the emerging super welterweight maintained his undefeated record and demonstrated he is ready for the next tier of competition.
Conversely, it appears that Horn’s best days are now behind him. He is now 2-3 in his last five contests.
EASY WORK
The fight began with an energetic Horn pressing the action by lunging in and initiating a series of very ugly clenches. The holding was so egregious that referee Phil Austin called time to give each fighter a stern warning to stop with the wrestling. This greatly favored the younger and longer Tszyu. Whenever the two fought at range he was able to land hard accurate straight-rights almost at will!
Horn was able to hold his own for the first two rounds, but the heavy right hands were now visibly taking their toll. Even worse, the former WBO champion was tiring and unable to leap in with any real speed. After being pushed to the canvas twice, Tszyu legitimately dropped his foe with a thudding right in the third round.
One element of the bout that was particularly interesting was how patient and methodical Tszyu performed. As the fight wore on, he was frightfully dedicate to applying a debilitating, hook-filled body attack along with solid head shots. As a result, Horn was battered to his knee in the sixth.
Amazingly, the obviously tired and busted up former world champion found his feet and soldiered on.
NO REAL CHANCE AT A COMEBACK
With no answers or ability to fight in any different fashion, Horn could do little else but absorb punishment. Toward the end the eighth round referee Austin appeared as if he was looking for any reason to halt the action. In between the eighth and ninth round, Horn’s corner saved Austin the trouble and threw in the towel.
Tszyu was very gracious in his post-fight interview and made a point to credit Jeff Horn with shining a global light on the Australian boxing scene. He also made a point that he wanted to be viewed as his own fighter and not simply the son of his father; boxing legend Kostya “The Thunder Down Under” Tszyu.
It will be interesting to see what fight the very polished and versatile winner selects next. There is no question that he has options being ranked as the #12, #9 and #5 in the WBC, WBO and IBF respectively at super welterweight.
WBO champion Patrick Teixeira is one potential opponent that could be right up Tszyu’s alley. We will have to wait and see!
By: Bakari Simpson
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