Aussie prospect watch: Junior middleweight Tim Tszyu

Rising junior middleweight prospect Tim Tszyu 8-0 (6) is continuing to make a name for himself with another dominant performance on a high-profile card in Australia earlier this month.

The 23-year-old from the inner-Sydney suburb of Rockdale broke down and stopped New Zealand southpaw Ruben Webster in the fifth round of a scheduled six round bout on the undercard of the big DDP Sports ‘Evolution’ card in Brisbane on April 7 headlined by the world title eliminator between junior middleweights Dennis “Hurricane” Hogan and Jimmy Kilrain Kelly.

For many boxers entering the second year of their pro career the live crowd of almost 2,000 people and the online stream that reached an estimated 300,000 more would be the biggest audience they have performed in front of.

No so for Tszyu.

“The biggest show would have been at Adelaide Oval on the (Danny) Green versus (Anthony) Mundine undercard,” said Tszyu, who scored a third round TKO of Mark Dalby in his second pro fight on the card headlined by the rematch between Australian boxing’s two biggest rivals. A crowd of almost 27,000 fans showed up to watch.

“After that, Joseph Parker’s WBO heavyweight title fight (against late replacement Razvan Cojanu) in (Manukau City) New Zealand,” he said. “So maybe the last fight was the third biggest.”

Tszyu put on a polished performance against Webster. After taking a round or two to find his range, Tszyu systematically broke down the Kiwi lefty with well-time right-hand leads and uppercuts. There were no wasted punches and when they landed, they did damage.

Webster’s corner threw in the towel at 2:15 of the fifth round just as referee Derek Milham appeared to be getting ready to stop the fight.

“It was a great event,” said Tszyu. “We had roughly the same experience, there was a good crowd and a lot of viewers watching the live stream.

“I made a few mistakes, but I took my time, showed my patience and got the win in the end.”

Patience is one Tszyu’s best virtues. He needed it in his previous fight against the more experienced Wade Ryan 14-6 (3) for the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental junior middleweight belt last October after being dropped in the opening stanza.

“He hit me with a good shot, my hands touched the ground, but I was up at two. He didn’t hurt me and I went back to my corner down 10-8 in the first and had to box my way back into the fight, one round at a time,” said Tszyu, who went on to win the fight by unanimous decision.

Team Tszyu 2.0 know that his big fight experience will pay dividends down the track. The aim is to have Tszyu fight as often as possible across the length and breadth of Australia in front of as many people as possible as they build his brand with a broad audience.

In his eight fights to date he is yet to box in the same suburb twice, let alone at the same venue.

“I’m lucky to fight on these cards,” said Tszyu. “I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with so many different promoters in so many different places. Even when I fight on the road I’m often treated like the home fighter, which is really amazing.

“The main thing though is to improve with each fight. The aim of course is to end up fighting the big names and selling out big venues. We are fighting around Australia and staying busy and hopefully we are headlining big shows by the end of the year, but everything that’s good takes time.”

Patience, as they say, is a virtue.

While Tszyu knows his unmistakable surname will open some doors in the short-term, he is also acutely aware of the fact that he has an obligation to perform to the best of his ability every time out. He owes it not only to himself, but also to his backers.