Professional boxing from the land down under

TIM TSZYU TO FACE JACK BRUBAKER ON DECEMBER 6

Rising star Tim Tszyu 14-0 (10) will face ‘Gelignite’ Jack Brubaker 16-2-2 (8) at the ICC Exhibition Centre in Sydney, News South Wales on December 6.

The 24-year-old junior middleweight sees the fight as just another step in his professional development.

"My motto is whoever, whenever, wherever," Tszyu said. "Jack Brubaker’s just another name for me. I approach each fight the same way: train hard and try to improve myself from what I was the fight before.

"As you’ve seen, I am improving, I am getting better.

"For me, it’s another challenge, another exciting time for myself to close out the year on my third Main Event pay-per-view."

Tszyu’s father Kostya Tszyu offered some words of advice for his son.

"Never underestimate anyone," he said. "Every step is hard, every fighter is willing to beat you and you have to be the best.

"You have to sacrifice to achieve something. Discipline in what you eat and how you live and what you do."

Aussie boxing legend Jeff Fenech, who has taken over training duties with Brubaker, admitted Tszyu will be a tough out for his fighter.

"A lot of people talk about Tim and if he could be half as good as his dad," Fenech said.

"Let me tell you, if he’s half as good as his dad – excuse me – he’s going to be a f***ing good fighter.

"Tim’s worked his backside off. I’ve known him since he was a boy, I’m not a huge part of his life, but I’ve seen this kid develop into where he is today – the face of Australian boxing."

Promoter Matt Rose of No Limit Boxing agreed.

"Tim’s really lived up to the hype this year and he now takes over as the face of Australian boxing after the loss of Jeff Horn," he said.

"I’m not sure what he’s (Horn) going to do with his career, but Tim’s there now and Jack’s been knocking on the door for three fights and has the opportunity to put on a spectacle come December 6."

Tszyu had been aiming for a fight with Horn, which could now take place next year.

JEFF HORN TO FIGHT ON

Jeff Horn 19-2-1 (13) has revealed he plans to continue fighting despite the urging of his family to retire.

Three weeks after his shock knockout loss to middleweight Michael Zerafa, Horn says he still has unfinished business in the ring.

“If Jo (wife) had her way there would be no more boxing,” Horn said to the Daily Telegraph. “But this is my decision.

“My mum and all my family say they’d be extremely happy and proud if I gave it away. They keep saying I don’t need to do it

“I’ve already set up my family so it’s not about the money.

“I know how I want to finish and it wasn’t the way the fight ended against Zerafa.”

The 31-year-old former schoolteacher is aiming to return to the ring before Christmas with a rematch against Zerafa still on the table.

Horn admitted he was shocked that trainer Glenn Rushton brought up his diet at the post-fight press conference following the Zerafa loss.

“I was frustrated with Glenn for bringing that up,” Horn said. “It wasn’t something that should have been broadcast publicly straight after the fight.

“But I admit I let myself down. I wasn’t training as hard or I wasn’t as hungry as I was before the (Manny) Pacquiao fight.”

Rushton, who said Horn needs to “stop eating pizzas and drinking Coke”, now regrets his comments.

“My timing wasn’t right and I’ve apologized to Jeff,” Rushton said, “What I meant to say was that Jeff didn’t pay as much attention to his diet.

“Because he was going up to middleweight, he knew he could eat pretty much whatever he wanted.

“That doesn’t mean you should eat wrong foods. You’ve got to have good fuel in your body.”

Rushton has endured criticism for not stopping the fight sooner after Horn was dropped in the ninth round and appeared unsteady on his feet.

Chief amongst the critics was Jeff Fenech, who said at the time: “The referee and the corner should be investigated and shouldn’t be allowed to be in the sport of boxing.”

“I was extremely tired and he thought I’d had enough,” Horn said, “Zerafa was clipping me more and more in that round but I was okay.”

Rushton also defended his decision.

“I care about Jeff Horn’s opinion but I couldn’t care less about what Jeff Fenech thinks,” he said.

“Jeff’s not a person who should be making accusations.

“Yes, it’s my job to protect Jeff. This was not a bad stoppage.

“He was tired more than anything. I know what a tough competitor Jeff is.

“What if we’d stopped the fight against Pacquiao when he was struggling?”

REAGAN DESSAIX CLAIMS OPBF BELT WITH FOURTH-ROUND TKO OF AARON LAI

Light heavyweight ‘President’ Reagan Dessaix 18-2 (16) claimed the OPBF title from Aaron Lai 15-5 (11) with a fourth round TKO at the Paddo RSL Club in Sydney, New South Wales on Friday night.

Lai was on the canvas once in round three and round four each before referee Kevin Hogan halted the bout at the 1:52 mark of the 12-round fight. At the time Dessaix was leading the fight 29-27 on all three judges’ scorecards.

“It was only four rounds, but it felt like a fight,” said Dessaix in an interview with former world heavyweight title challenger Kali Meehan of Fight Call Out after the bout.

“Especially round one, I could feel it was a bit backwards and forwards. I knew I had to be smart and keep my composure. When I had him on the canvas in round three, I knew from his previously fights like against Kerry Foley he comes back swinging. I knew I didn’t have to go to war with him and just had to use this [indicating his brain].

The 23-year-old Dessaix has now won back-to-back fights since dropping a competitive 10-round decision to world-rated Blake Caparello in Melbourne in February.

JUSTIS HUNI UNLUCKY AT AIBA WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Super heavyweight Justis Huni had to settle for bronze at the AIBA World Boxing Championships after being forced to withdraw from his semi-final match against number one seed Kamshybek Kunkabayev of Kazakhstan due to illness.

Uzbek Bakhodir Jalolov would go on to defeat Kunkabayev to claim the gold 5-0 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

The 20-year-old Huni, who won the gold medal at the 2016 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was disappointed he didn’t get the chance to go further in the tournament.

“I apologise if I let anyone down but the last few days, I have been struggling with a stomach bug that I’ve picked up,” Huni wrote on social media. “I’ve been constantly vomiting, feverish, not being able to hold food down. It’s got to a point where I feel too weak to fight.

“I know a lot of you noticed it in my last fight, my energy levels dropped halfway through the first round, but I still managed to get through the fight and most importantly got the win.

“I truly believe that if I was fit, I would have had a good chance in taking home the gold. Can’t wait to have the opportunity to fight these guys.

“I would like to thank everyone from back home and around the world for the love and support, I’ll be back.

“I would also like to thank the management team and Head Coach Kevin Smith, fellow assist, Coach Sean Nash and manager Erin Williams for all your help and looking after me. Also a massive thanks to our adopted Indian doctor. Special thanks to my home coach Mark Wilson.”

JACOB NG AND DEMSEY MCKEAN LOG KNOCKOUT WINS ON THE GOLD COAST

IBF number 15 ranked lightweight Jacob ‘The Flamingo’ Ng 12-0 (9) dominated Pablo Fuego 15-5 (2) before stopping him in the fifth round of their 10-round contest at Southport Sharks on the Gold Coast in Queensland on an Ace Boxing Promotion on Saturday night.

The 24-year-old Ng, making the first defence of his IBF International title, had the Spaniard down once in the fourth and twice in the fifth, finishing him off with a right cross at the 2:06 mark.

On the same card Australian heavyweight champion Demsey McKean 16-0 (10) continued his development with a sixth-round stoppage of Patrick Eneanya 10-2 (6) after winning every round.

The 28-year-old southpaw controlled the action throughout the fight and had Eneanya on the canvas twice in the sixth before referee Paul Tapley halted the contest at 0:59.

The victory improves McKean’s knockout streak to seven fights and will likely see the ‘Tower of Terror’ achieve his first world ranking.

“Got the win last night by KO in round six to capture the WBO Pan African regional title,” McKean wrote on social media after the fight. “This looks to help secure me into the top 15 world ranking within the WBO now and also moving to 16-0 (10 KOs).

“Big thanks to my promoters and manager/coach Angelo Di Carlo and Stephen Ng for the constant hard work and endless time and money they put in behind the scenes giving us the platform to perform.

“Also thanks to Danny Leigh for giving me the opportunity with the WBO and to fight for the title and now climb the ranks.”

Ng, McKean and WBO number two and IBF number three junior welterweight Liam ‘The Prodigy’ Paro 17-0 (11) will return to the ring at Eaton Hill Hotel in Brisbane on November 8 to close out their respective campaigns for 2019.

BLAKE CAPARELLO OFF TO ENGLAND FOR WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR AGAINST JOSHUA BUATSI

WBA number nine ranked light heavyweight Blake ‘Il Capo’ Caparello 30-3-1 (19) will travel to the UK to face WBA number three Joshua Buatsi 12-0 (10) over 12 rounds at the Manchester Arena on November 2.

"You can’t jump levels in boxing," Caparello said to Boxing Scene. "I’m not sure why they’re in such a rush with him, he’s only had 12 fights. He’ll realize this round one."

The 33-year-old southpaw has put together four straight wins since dropping a close 12-round decision to fellow contender Isaac Chilemba in March last year.

"I’ve fought the best and I know where I went wrong,” Caparello continued. “Now I’ve learnt from that and I’m ready to make this my breakout fight.

"Everybody can see Joshua’s strengths, but we know his weaknesses. His last fight showed us everything we need to know. I’m going to win this fight."

ALL AUSSIE FEMALE CLASH BETWEEN CHERNEKA JOHNSON AND SHANNON O’CONNELL ON TAP FOR NOVEMBER

Super bantamweight Cherneka ‘Sugar Neekz’ Johnson 12-0 (6) takes a step up in class when she faces ‘Shotgun’ Shannon O’Connell 18-6-1 (9) at the Melbourne Pavilion in Melbourne, Victoria on November 8.

Former WIBA 122-pound champion O’Connell, 36, believes she will be too experienced for Johnson.

“Time to expose some fakes,” O’Connell posted on social media, followed by a winking emoji. “This will be a good hard fight and good hard fights is what I love… Can’t wait.”

Johnson is equally keen for the match-up.

“Long time in the making, we’re ready to get the job done! Bring on November 8th,” said Johnson on social media.

O’Connell is coming off a six-round split decision victory over Bianca Elmir on the Jeff Horn vs Michael Zerafa undercard in Bendigo last month.

The Johnson vs O’Connell show will be promoted by Team Labruna in association with Big Time Boxing.

BILLEL DIB SIGNS WITH GREG COHEN PROMOTIONS, MOVES CLOSER TO WORLD TITLE SHOT

WBA number seven super featherweight Billel ‘Babyface’ Dib 24-3 (11) has signed a promotional deal with US outfit Greg Cohen Promotions, according to a report on Fightnews.

The 30-year-old retained his WBA Oceania title with a comprehensive 10-round points decision win over Filipino Carlos Magali 24-13-3 (13) at the Seagulls Rugby League Club in Tweed Heads, New South Wales on September 14.

“I believe I won nine of the ten rounds and showed my class,” Dib said to Seven Gold Coast News.

“I want that shot next. Give me any of the champions. I feel like I belong on top of the world and that’s exactly what I am going to prove. I believe in my abilities and my skills.”

Dib is targeting a shot at WBA 130-pound champion Andrew Cancio 21-4-2 (16), who won the belt back in February with a fourth-round knockout of previously undefeated Alberto Machado.

EMMANUEL CARLOS, JAI ALEXANDER AND JAYDE MITCHELL RETURN WITH WINS

Talented middleweight Emmanuel Carlos 11-1 (7) claimed the vacant IBF Pan Pacific title with a 10-round split decision win over Wes Capper 20-4-1 (12) at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park, Victoria on September 14.

On the same card featherweight Jai Alexander 11-0 (6) handed Masing Warawara 3-1 (1) of Vanuatu his first professional loss with an eight-round split decision victory.

Meanwhile, world-rated super middleweight Jayde Mitchell 19-1 (10) made light work of Ibrahim Tamba 23-12-1 (16) in their scheduled eight-round bout, knocking him out in the opening frame on their light heavyweight contest.

WBC number eight Mitchell, 33, was having his first fight since December following the birth of his daughter.