Tim Tszyu’s last fight ended in a loss — but it didn’t have to end that way. Still, Tszyu wouldn’t change the decisions that led to his first pro defeat.
When Tszyu suffered a horrifying cut above his hairline in March against Sebastian Fundora, the second round was coming to a close. Because the wound was caused by an accidental elbow, Tszyu and his team could have told the ringside physician that the gushing blood was getting into his eyes and blocking his vision.
They had a handful of minutes to do so. As long as four rounds had not yet been completed, the fight would have then been ruled a “no contest.”
Instead, Tszyu continued on past Round 4. The judges, unbeknownst to the fighters and their teams, had it even at that point. But soon Fundora pulled ahead, and ending the fight because of the cut would’ve led to a loss via technical decision. Tszyu and Fundora lasted a bloody 12 rounds, and Tszyu wound up dropping his WBO junior middleweight title via split decision. Fundora also picked up the vacant WBC belt.
“The first initial reaction was, ‘This ain’t a normal cut.’ As soon as it happened, I looked down and there was a fountain of blood, and I’ve never had that before,” Tszyu told the media on a September 24 conference call. “Usually there’s a couple of drips, and then it starts dripping a bit more, and then it might get a little in your eyes. It definitely hit the vein. My initial reaction was, ‘How am I going to get through this?’ I was feeling so confident. ‘What’s the task of getting through this?’ As soon as the [third] round started, it completely blindsided me. After a couple rounds, I sort of got used to it and I was able to adapt a little bit.”
Nearly six months later, does Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) have any regrets?
“No, not at all,” he said. “For me it was: If you’re going to lose, you’re going to lose that way. I’m not going to try and survive. I was there to win, and the only way to win for me was trying to smash my opponent. To just pull out and forfeit, that’s not my thing. It’s not in my blood. I’d rather die in that ring. That’s the mentality I’ve got.”
The only things Tszyu would’ve changed were tactical:
“Probably not get jabbed as much. Easier said than done,” Tszyu said. “Maybe throw a few more extra punches per round that land a bit cleaner.”
Tszyu feels the Fundora fight was close and could have gone either way.
“I think we gave the fans bang for their buck. We definitely put on a show,” he said. “I took the loss on the chin, and we moved on.”
But there was still disappointment with the result.
“There were so many future plans from that fight, of course, after a victory,” Tszyu said. “But you sort of go back to the drawing board. You don’t start again, but you see what other options are out there.”
Fortunately for him, there were indeed options out there after the loss, making it feel like less of a setback. Tszyu was initially called on to face Vergil Ortiz as part of a fight card in early August.
“Didn’t think about it. ‘Yes, of course. What an opportunity. Can’t wait.’ The next day, I book a trip to Thailand to start my pre-training camp,” Tszyu said. “I trained in Thailand for two weeks and then I came back. I needed to get clearance from the doctor about the cut. The doctor said, basically, ‘Not yet. It’s not cleared yet.’
“I was upset,” he said. “I was in pretty good condition, and I was ready to go. I was devastated.”
Tszyu wasn’t sidelined for too long. He was cleared for sparring in July, a few weeks before the originally scheduled August 3 date with Ortiz. Ortiz wound up winning a close fight over Serhii Bohachuk on August 10.
Tszyu will be getting a chance at winning another world title, challenging Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF belt on October 19 at the Caribe Royale Orlando, headlining on Amazon’s Prime Video.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
Read the full article here
