Via Jeff Aaron: Tim Tszyu looked vulnerable and defensively flawed in his decisive round 12 win last Saturday night over competitor Terrell Gausha at The Armory in Minneapolis.
Tszyu was knocked down in the first round by non-fist Gausha and made the decision with the scores: 114-113, 116-111 and 115-112.
As the mandatory WBO belt for young middleweight champion Brian Castano, Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) is expected to face the winner in a May 14 bout against Jermell Charlo.
Tszyu needs 4 to 6 tough battles
It was clear that 27-year-old Tszyu wasn’t ready to fight either of those champions, and it would be a crime for him to rush into a fight against both with no more experience.
We saw what happened when a rudimentary Erickson Lubin rushed into the fray against Jermell five years ago when he was annihilated by a knockout in the first round.
It’s not too far-fetched to imagine Charlo doing the same to Tszyu, who was even less defensive than Lubin when he was defeated by him.
Lubin was only 21 at the time, but still had better defense than what we were seeing in Tszyu. What we Tim needs are four or five quality matches to prepare him for the challenge for a world title.
If Tszyu can put together those four or five bouts in a year’s time, he’ll be ready to challenge for the world title by the end of 2023. These are the boxers.
I’d love to see Tszyu face off BEFORE he challenges Jermell or Castano for the world championship:
- Tony Harrison
- Erickson Lubin
- Sebastian Fundora
- Carlos Adames
- Israil Madrimov
- Patrick Teixeira
If Tszyu can beat those guys, he’ll be ready to take on Castano or Charlo. Harrison is the most important fighter in the group because he has a lot of skills that Tszyu will face when fighting Charlo or Castano.
It’s a waste of Tszyu’s time for him to fight old fossils of Liam Smith or Jessie Vargas. Those guys were lower level warriors, and they didn’t have the talent needed to help Tszyu prepare for the likes of Jermell or Castano.
Tszyu not ready for Charlo-Castano winner
“Tim Tszyu took the win last weekend, beating Terrell Gausha by a unanimous decision. Tszyu is now the mandatory challenger for the winner of next month’s reunification fight between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano,” said Chris Mannix above. DAZN Boxing Show about Tim Tszyu beating Terrell Gausha to claim the title.
“Is Tim Tszyu ready for a battle of that level?”
“Right. At 21-0, they developed him perfectly, because he has faced what you want an opponent to face,” Sergio Mora said of his view that Tszyu had ready to challenge winner Jermell Charlo vs Brian Castano.
“He has to face a tough guy, he has to face invincible warriors. He proved himself against Jeff Horn. He was able to stop a boxer that the great Manny Pacquiao couldn’t stop,” Mora said of Tszyu’s 1/8-round knockout win over Horn in 2020.
“He can physically stop Dennis Hogan, which Jaime Munguia cannot do. He’s really growing in the right way. At this point in his career, he’s already out of the old great block. He resembles his father in many ways.
“Not only in his face like him, but also in his right hand. They don’t waste time with the right hand. It’s like radar, and it’s short. It can be long or short, top cuts, body shots.
“I really like the way they promote him and the way they move him, and, yes, he is ready for a title. I don’t know if it’s Charlo or Castano, but maybe someone down there, a former champion makes sense while they wait for the big fight,” Mora said of Tszyu.
“He’s ready for a title or not, and those two [Charlo and Castano] there are four belts in all,” said Mannix. “I don’t think he’s ready for that level of competition yet.
“There is so much to like about Tim Tszyu. He is a terrible offensive fighter. He averaged 71 punches per round in his match against Gausha. He took 93 body shots, which is a great number, especially in that junior middleweight class,” said Mannix.
If you believe Tszyu is ready to challenge for a world title like Mora does, you’re basically saying he can’t progress.
It’s clear that Tszyu needs a fair amount of improvement in his game before he’s ready to challenge Charlo or Castano. Fighting either of them now would be madness, and it could destroy Tszyu’s career.
At the very least, a heavy loss to Tszyu would make the boxing public lose interest in him, and it would take him years to rebuild their trust.
For example, look at Erickson Lubin. It’s been five years since he was leveled a round by Jermell Charlo in 2017, and he still hasn’t completed the way back from that loss to getting back to where he was before the loss.
Defensive heart is not good enough
Mannix said: “Roughly, he was a commodity, but I watched him, and he was normal. “There wasn’t much head movement for him. He is deflecting some punches, but his defense needs a lot of work.
“He was lucky in the way that he went up against someone who didn’t have the firepower in Gausha like some of the other top guys in the junior middleweight class.
“When I watched that game, if he were to play Jermell Charlo, he was going to hit something big. If he fights Brian Castano, he’ll have Brian Castano in his chest all night, and I don’t know what he does with that.
I think Tim Tszyu needs at least one more game, maybe two more before he’s ready to face Charlo-Castano. I’d love to see Tszyu take on the role of Tony Harrison, who’ll be back at the end of next month.
“I want to see that kind of play before he steps up because of the way he fights, I think someone will achieve something big, and I think Tszyu will be relegated.”
“No, as always, you were wrong,” Mora said. “Have you ever seen his father, Kostya Tszyu fight? Kostya Tszyu is a Hall of Famer, and he’s normal.
“He’s not the upper body type, but that’s what makes them punch so hard. They dig deep and they have great technique, they have a great time, especially with the left hand and uppercut.
“Kostya Tszyu, his father, is an excellent warrior. You see similarities with Tim Tszyu. They have the same style and are clearly related. I think he’s ready. It’s just their style.
“You won’t have upper body movement and you won’t have lateral movement because that’s not their style. They dig deep and they have great upper body dynamics where they know how to time you. They don’t pull back too much.
“They don’t pass by. They’re in the pocket and looking for the right counter and they punch really hard and that’s why they get out of it,” Mora says of Tim and Kostya Tszyu’s style.
Mannix said: “He was knocked out in the first round by Gausha.
Be honest. Tszyu has NO defense. His defense is his offense, and he doesn’t hit hard enough to prevent opponents from taking advantage of his inability to defend himself.
If Tszyu possessed Julian Jackson-style strength, yes, he could get away with standing in front of an opponent without being able to defend, but he doesn’t. Jackson’s strength is on a completely different level than Tszyu’s.
Tszyu needs more experience
“Exchanged punches, and Gausha was there with the best of the junior middle class. He’s the Olympic athlete, he’s the commodity,” Mora said. “Gausha was a tough guy to deal with in the US in his debut and he overcame that. Tim Tszyu got through it and that’s what you want to see.”
“When you look at the opponents Tim Tszyu has faced up to this point, there aren’t any fighters on that resume,” Mannix said. “He was facing Dennis Hogan, not a puncher. He faced Jeff Horn during the twilight of his career.
“This is a guy [Tszyu] with a limited amateur background, having never faced any of the heavyweights in the junior middleweight class. I don’t know how you can look at that performance by Tim Tszyu and not say if he’s up against someone maybe a little crack, lack of head movement, lack of leg movement, which can make you easily beaten.
“I think he needs to work more. He’s still a young lad he could get a world title but I’d love to see him face one or two other guys mid-level before he gets to invincible. enemy. ”
“Okay, one more fight, I can agree with you, but I think he is ready for a championship level fighter because he has the confidence, he has the strength and obviously he He has a legacy,” Mora said.
“What about winners Jessie Vargas and Liam Smith? That makes perfect sense. The two have never been defeated, and are already invincible.
“Actually, Liam Smith was taken down, but two guys about to fight. Winner of that fight in a few weeks. That makes perfect sense and it’s great to have a former champion on your profile. So yeah, one more fight, and he’s ready for a Castano winner – Charlo. ”
“I can’t believe I agree with you, but I love Tim Tszyu versus the victors of Jessie Vargas and Liam Smith. This is just the kind of bout he needs before he gets to championship level,” said Mannix.
