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Rising Star Tim Tszyu Overcomes Early Knockdown In U.S.
Debut To Defeat Terrell Gausha By Decision
Photos: Esther Lin - SHOWTIME
Unbeaten rising star Tim Tszyu rose from an early knockdown
before finding his footing and securing an impressive
unanimous decision victory in his U.S. debut over U.S.
Olympian Terrell Gausha Saturday night live on SHOWTIME from
The Armory in Minneapolis headlining a Premier Boxing
Champions event.
The son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, Tim Tszyu (21-0, 15
KOs) faced adversity early as Gausha (22-3-1, 11 KOs) landed
a perfect straight right hand that sent Tszyu toppling to
the mat in the opening round. Tszyu bounced back onto his
feet but was sporting a cut under his left eye for the
remainder of the frame. The flash knockdown didn’t deter
Tszyu, who used his physicality, aggressive and come-forward
style to punish Gausha to the head and body on his way to a
victory by scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 114-113.
“It was all so quick,” said Tszyu of the knockdown. “It was
good that I faced adversity for the first time and I was
able to come back. All respect to my opponent, Terrell
Gausha. He’s a hell of a warrior and he’s a true gentleman.
It was a simple flash knockdown. It was perfect timing. He’s
a former Olympian. He’s got great credentials. That’s a
great lesson for myself. I got back up and I dug deep.”
“I felt that I had him in trouble after the knockdown,” said
Gausha. “I tried to jump on him but he’s a tough fighter. I
take my hat off to him. He came prepared. I was ready for 12
hard rounds too. I think I got a little too excited and I
tried to jump on him. But he was in shape so he recovered
pretty good. He just pressed the action. That’s what he
does. I knew he was going to come like that, and we trained
hard for that.”
Gausha had success with that same straight right hand
throughout the fight, but Tszyu’s constant pressure slowly
began to wear Gausha down, first hurting him with body shots
in round four. Tszyu followed that up in round five by
hurting Gausha with an overhand right that forced Gausha to
look to hold throughout the rest of the round.
“I hope we gave the fans a great show,” said Gausha. “I
trained hard. I poured my heart out. I’m happy with it. I
hate losing but I went out like a champion.”
A native of Rockdale, Australia, Tszyu was able to stay in
control with a relentless body attack, landing 93 body shots
compared to 29 from Gausha, according to CompuBox. Tszyu
stayed close to Gausha throughout the action, eating the
occasional counter right hand in order to land his 207 power
punches, which outpaced Gausha’s 106. In addition to his
edge in punch output, Tszyu was more accurate, landing 32%
of his shots compared to 28% for Gausha.
“I was just enjoying myself,” said Tszyu. “I felt in control
the whole time. I kept the pressure on. I wasn’t going to
back down. He kept landing shots but I said, ‘I’m going to
keep coming forward and keep fighting.’ I kept my composure
but I just kept saying to myself that this is a new round. I
have to dig deep and I have to catch up here. I felt like I
did that. I put the pressure on. I didn’t take one step
backwards. I kept going on.”
Gausha remained game until the last bell, landing enough
shots to keep Tszyu from overwhelming him, but was not able
to turn the tide on the judges’ cards. After a victorious
debut on the U.S. stage, Tszyu set his eyes on the winner of
the upcoming undisputed super welterweight championship
rematch between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castańo taking
place May 14 on SHOWTIME.
“I’ll definitely be there for Charlo vs. Castańo,” said
Tszyu. “I’ll definitely be watching. I’m coming for the two
boys. Whoever wants it, come get it.”
In the co-main event, rising contender Michel Rivera (23-0,
14 KOs) earned a unanimous decision victory over the
previously unbeaten Joseph Adorno (14-1-2, 12 KOs) in their
lightweight showdown.
The bout was tense throughout, with neither fighter able to
fully control the action or significantly hurt their
opponent. Rivera’s jab was the key to his success, as he
landed 72 to Adorno’s 30 across the 10 rounds.
“That was four months of practicing in camp,” said Rivera.
“I feel so good. I was looking for the knockout, but that
undefeated guy is tough. I know him. He’s a power-puncher,
but the aggression that ‘Ali’ has is too much. I have a good
corner. A great trainer in Herman Caicedo and also Jukka
Toivola. But I have talent and I made the sacrifice.”
Adorno looked to load up on power hooks in hopes of slowing
down Rivera, but was unable to find the right punch to fully
turn the tide in his favor. Rivera appeared to make a key
adjustment during the fight, sliding close to Adorno as he
loaded up for that hook, smothering the incoming assault and
dulling its impact.
Rivera was consistent with the jab, throwing at least 30 in
every round, on his way to a 104 to 67 overall edge in total
punches landed. He also held Adorno to a 20% connect rate on
his 330 punches and out landed his opponent in all but one
round. After 10 rounds, all three judges saw the fight the
same, scoring the action 97-93 in favor of Rivera.
“I thought it was a closer fight,” said Adorno. “I thought I
won seven rounds. All he did was throw jabs. What the judges
didn’t take into account was my activity and productivity.
If you look at the fight closely, you will see that I hit
him more times than he hit me.”
“Everybody now knows me,” said Rivera. “I say that I am the
reincarnation of Muhammad Ali because I work so hard. I’m
definitely ready for a world title shot.”
In the telecast opener, super lightweight contender Elvis
Rodriguez (13-1-1, 12 KOs) scored a seventh-round knockout
over Argentina’s Juan Velasco (23-3, 14 KOs), dropping him
three times in the round to finish the fight.
“I wasn’t surprised that I was able to dominate this fight,”
said Rodriguez. “I was ready to demonstrate my skills with
all of these fans here. I trained really well because I knew
that Velasco was going to be a tough opponent.”
After a knockout victory in November, Rodriguez returned to
action Saturday night and controlled the pace from the
outset, circling his opponent and peppering him with combos
from the southpaw stance. As Velasco continued to push
forward, Rodriguez was able to slow his opponent’s counters
with a consistent body attack, landing 42 times to the body
over the seven rounds.
The Dominican Rodriguez used a prolific output of power
punches to open up a cut and swelling around Velasco’s left
eye, which Velasco told his corner was inhibiting his vision
between rounds six and seven. Rodriguez landed 97 power
punches in the fight at an impressive 63% connect rate.
“In the beginning of the fight, I started feinting and I was
moving around a lot,” said Rodriguez. “But when I started
making the combinations, I saw that it was hurting him so I
kept with the power punches.”
Sensing his advantage, Rodriguez pressed forward early in
round seven and put Velasco down hard early in the frame. He
remained patient with his follow-up attack, eventually
finding a spot for a sweeping right hook that scored him his
second knockdown of the round. With one more flurry, and
with Velasco unable to keep him at bay, Rodriguez delivered
a left hand that put him down a third time, eventually
prompting referee Gary Ritter to waive off the bout 2:49
into the round.
“The eye bothered me during the fight,” said Velasco. “The
outcome was more because of fatigue than being hurt. I’ll
talk to my family next before I decide what my future
holds.”
“I thought the fight was going to be over after I first
knocked him down,” said Rodriguez. “But he did surprise me
because he came back in that round. I just covered myself
well for the remainder of that round and tried to take him
out. I knew that he was having trouble with his eye. I could
see that he was cut on the left eye and was also bleeding
from his nose.
“I’m ready for anybody at 140 pounds. Gervonta Davis, Rolly
Romero, whoever. I’m ready and prepared.”
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