Tim Tszyu’s partnership with Jeff Fenech has proved a masterstroke.
This was a rejuvenated Tszyu, looking as good as when he won the super-welterweight world title against Tony Harrison, but against a far more imposing opponent in Errol Spence Jr.
Forget that Spence had been out of the ring for three years; he showed little ring rust. He was simply outsmarted and outworked by a hungrier fighter.
This is Fenech’s greatest achievement as a trainer.
This major criticism of Fenech is that he’s taught his boxers to fight like he did; all-out war, going forward, with little care for how much punishment is received.
Yet here was Tszyu, returning to his surgical best.
He took few wild chances, was calm in the storm, and cut the ring off with precision and pressure.
At middleweight, Tszyu is healthy and a menace.
What also stood out was Tszyu’s impressive defence.
Of course, he took some heavy shots, as is to be expected against the brilliant former undisputed champion Spence.
But Tszyu wore the blows well, and excelled in the trenches when the fight was fought toe-to-toe.
Spence sought to establish centre ring dominance with his reach in the first round, sniping his right jab into Tszyu.
But the complexion of the round changed when Spence lost his balance and copped a heavy uppercut that had him wobbled.
Spence changed tactics in the second, closing the gap and fighting on the inside. As Tszyu tried to find holes, Spence landed a sharp straight left that stung the Sydney fighter.
Spence insisted on making it a phonebooth fight in the third, and had early success with body shots. But Tszyu rallied in the back half of the round with sharp combinations.
It was in the fourth that Tszyu began to dominate. He landed an early one-two combination, then two straight rights that blunted Spence’s ambition. Tszyu walked his opponent down, thumping him with big shots, including another left-right combination that sent him backwards.
The fifth was another close quarters knuckle fest as both men traded back and forth, particularly to the body. Spence jagged some momentum by closing the gap, but Tszyu landed the punch of the round with a short right that rocked his opponent’s jaw.
Spence was backpedalling in the sixth as Tszyu brought an all-out assault. The Aussie found a home for his right hand as blood flowed freely from Spence’s nose.
Tszyu’s pressure was bringing out the ghosts of Spence’s three-year absence from the ring.
Spence landed a left early in the seventh to try to spark a revival, but that was his only highlight. Tszyu kept pounding away at his rival with short, sharp punches that drained Spence.
Two right hands, and smart body work, punctuated Tszyu’s dominance.
More heavy body shots from Tszyu in the eighth took a toll on Spence, who was looking for one shot to turn the tide.
But even as he worked hard to find out, Tszyu continued to walk him backwards and landed his own solid rips to the body.
By round nine, Tszyu was breaking Spence apart. He went to the body, then as Spence prepared to receive another body shot, was rocked to the face.
It was a clinical hammering as Tszyu showed his array of skills.
Spence landed a telling left in the 10th, but again Tszyu had the more effective body of work with lefts and rights that left Spence swollen.
Knowing he needed a major moment to turn the fight hus way, Spence backed Tszyu against the ropes and began pounding away. But Tszyu quickly switched stance with his quick footwork and unleashed his own barrage. By the end of the round, Tszyu was snapping Spence’s head backwards with quick rights.
Tszyu remained composed but ruthless in the 12th, rocking Spence numerous times with lefts and rights while ensuring he wasn’t caught with anything damaging.
The undefeated Tszyu record in Australia remains intact.
Now it’s time for Tszyu to target the big names in the middleweight division, with champion Erislandy Lara at the top of the list.
