Tim Tszyu, son of former absolute world champion Konstantin Tszyu , in a difficult fight he lost to the American Sebastian Fundora and was unable to defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight title for the second time. The athlete also missed the opportunity to take the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) title in a similar weight class. Sports is about the first defeat of an Australian who failed to conquer Las Vegas.
Hell from Heaven for Timofey Initially, Tszyu’s opponent was supposed to be American Keith Thurman, but he suffered a biceps injury, and the organizers had to look for a replacement. 26-year-old Fundora volunteered to save the main event of the evening in Vegas, who could not miss the opportunity to fight for the world title. Not only did the skinny American remain out of the ring for almost a year and fail his last fight (more on that later), but he also took the fight on short notice – obviously, Tim opened as the clear favorite in the 12-round confrontation.
However, “Hell from Heaven” (Fundora’s menacing nickname – editor’s note) had an ace up his sleeve – a crazy advantage in height (197 centimeters versus 174 cm for the champion) and arm span (204 cm versus 183 cm). A very inconvenient opponent for Tszyu, who, with a serious disadvantage in size, needed to work at close range.
Fundora agreed to a fight with Tszyu after the first defeat in his career. Last April, the American lost by knockout in the seventh round to compatriot Brian Mendoza – we attach a video of the tough finish below. Even his impressive height did not help.
The boxer who ruined Fundore’s record became the last opponent for Tim Tszyu. The Australian faced Mendoza in October and won by unanimous decision.
The two-meter challenger surprised. At the start, Tszyu alternated work on the body with bombardments of the head, shaking his opponent in the first round, and in the second, the American’s face was covered in blood… But Tszyu himself, having run into his elbow, received a deep cut on the head! We had to pick up the pace, because with such damage the doctors could stop the fight at any moment.
The third round, like the fourth, turned into the resurrection of the challenger. Sleepy Fundora rushed into the hole and felt confident, because Tszyu had lost full visibility and was no longer fighting with his opponent, but with the veil that covered his eyes. It became clear: an easy walk instantly turned into a hunt, where Tim became the victim. He had difficulty adapting to the harsh conditions and could not find his box.
After the equator of the fight, the American interrupted the champion (721-400 in the total number of blows and 195-175 in punches delivered to the target – the final statistics are in favor of Sebastian). And, unfortunately, I was not tired. The hope for the championship rounds also did not materialize. Because Fundora survived and finished the main fight of his career to the applause of his native audience at the T-Mobile arena.
- VERDICT: 116-112, 112-116, 115-113 – a sensational victory for the US representative by split decision.
We are waiting for an immediate rematch. I really wanted to write that in the professional ring, the 29-year-old son of Kostya Tszyu already has 25 victories in 25 fights. But no – the most offensive first defeat… Now for a while we will have to forget about both the superfight against the leader of the pound-for-pound rating (regardless of weight categories) American Terence Crawford for the title of absolute world champion, and about the guaranteed ten million dollars for the confrontation with the king P4P (this could be the largest one-time fee in the history of Australian sports).
Now all Tszyu’s thoughts, like those of boxing fans, are concentrated on meeting Fundora again. Yes, the guy shocked the world today. However, there is no doubt that the fight would have turned out completely differently if blood had not been poured onto the favorite’s face for ten three-minute periods.
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"I give credit to the opponent who won today. This is boxing, part of the sport, this happens. He is the new king of our division. We'll be back. I still fought hard and gave it my all. I don’t want to make excuses – I’m ready to meet any opponent, whenever. I’m ready to fight with Fundora again.”
Timofey Tszyuinterview after the fight
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