The kid is the real deal. Those who know him best already knew. The rest of us doubted.
And then we watched the first round against Jeff Horn, and the second, and then the knockdown in the third.
By the eighth, it was one-way traffic as rising star Tim Tszyu summoned the class of his champion father Kostya to record the biggest win of his career last night in Townsville.
Tszyu was smashing Horn with uppercuts, hooks, body rips and straight rights.
The 32-year-old Horn, who had taken so much punishment in the past four years but never quit, finally quit.
His corner did the smart thing, they said “no more”, knowing their man would never utter those words himself.
Horn looked lethargic from the beginning. He was a step behind Tszyu from the opening bell, from power to speed to reaction.
Horn came into the fight proclaiming he was in career-best shape. This was only Tszyu’s 16th professional fight – his future is spectacularly stratospheric.
Tszyu came in lighter, but landed the big shots.
Horn looked off-balance often. He was rocked by clinical punches thrown from sound positions; a credit to Tszyu’s fastidious technical training.
By the seventh and eighth rounds we had a familiar theme: when will Horn’s corner save their man and throw in the towel? Such was the sustained beating, and grim prospect of a Hail Mary punch, the style which floored Michael Zerafa in his previous contest when all hope was lost.
The corner looked after Horn and called a halt to proceedings between the eighth and ninth rounds.
Immediately, talk turned to whether this was Horn’s last hurrah. But this is boxing. Last hurrahs always come too late.
Give it a few months and Horn will be training for his comeback.
That is of no concern to Tszyu, who now has the world to conquer after this masterful performance against Australia’s best.
He is unflappable, immovable, made for the big stage. He carries all of the privilege of his father’s talents, with none of the baggage of expectation.
Let’s recap. Horn landed two left hooks and a right in the early exchanges of the first round, however Tszyu stormed back to take the round with cleaner shots over the remaining two minutes.
Action in the second round was stopped as referee Phil Austin complained both fighters were “wrestling”.
Upon resumption, Tszyu tagged his opponent with rights and uppercuts, showing precision timing to land the better blows.
The third was a definitive round, with Tszyu stinging Horn with a variety of shots before flooring him with a left hook.
Horn survived the knockdown, but was on the back foot thereafter.
In the fourth he was forced to endure more punishment as Tszyu landed flush with an uppercut and left hook.
In the fifth, it was a perfectly timed body shot that hurt Horn, who looked twice his age against the young lion.
Horn landed a strong overhand right at the start of the sixth, but Tszyu dominated thereafter.
A vicious left body rip floored Horn for the second time, and he was lucky to escape the round.
The seventh was more of the sustained battering as Tszyu hurt Horn to the body, not an obvious point of attack prior to the fight but one expertly exploited on the big stage. A stinging body shot in the fifth rocked Horn.
The sixth and seventh followed suit before the eighth broke Horn, who has only been broken before by the supreme Terence Crawford and the big, powerful Zerafa.
Tszyu is determined to win a world title _ and this performance showed he can scale the apex of the sport.
“My name is Tim, not the son (of Kostya),” he said. “Jeff has achieved so much, I respect him, he is a tough competitor, but this is a young man’s sport.”
This was a huge step up in class for Tszyu.
They say styles make fights and the neat, technical style of Tszyu contrasted with the powerful, bullocking approach of Horn.
In the lead-up to the bout, Tszyu sought the counsel of his father, who gave his son simple instructions, urging him to avoid getting into the gutter with Horn and boxing with more intellect.
He followed the fight plan to the letter to leave The Hornet’s career at the crossroads.
Tszyu (16-0, 12KO) moves past Horn (20-3-1, 13KO) as the nation’s finest pugilist. We can underestimate him no more
