By Matt Lieberman: Tim Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs) raked up his 18th win on Wednesday night with his fifth-round stoppage win over Denis Hogan, and he says he’s now got his eyes on taking on the “big boys” at 154.
Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings is interested in pitting him against the winner of the Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano fight with a chance to become the undisputed junior middleweight champion.
At 26, Tszyu showed that he’s almost ready to take on WBO junior middleweight champion Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs) for his title. However, Tszyu will likely need to wait until after Castano faces IBF/WBA/WBC 154lb champion Jermell before he gets a chance to fight for a title.
In the meantime, Tszyu will be kept busy by his manager Jennings, who wants to make a name for him in the U.S to further his goal of becoming an international star.
Tszyu looked good in wearing down the 36-year-old former two-time world title challenger Hogan (28-4-1, 7 KOs) in stopping him in the fifth round at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, Australia.
Tszyu put Hogan on the deck with a left uppercut in the fifth, and shortly after that, his corner threw in the towel to have the fight stopped.
“The next step is to plant him over there and show him to the American market,” said Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings. “And very quickly, Tim’s name will be on the world stage.
“If it ends up being [Brian] Castano and [Jermell] Charlo and Charlo wins, it means Tim would be mandatory for Charlo, which means it would be a unification with a ton of straps. Let’s see.
“I can say this; we will stay busy regardless, and we will be working from tomorrow in securing his next fight. I’m pretty sure that within a year, Tim will be an international name for sure and everyone in the world will know Tim Tszyu.”
What Tszyu needs are one or two step-up fights to get him ready for what he’ll be dealing with when he takes on Charlo or Castano.
Hogan is not on the same level as those guys, and Tszyu shouldn’t fool himself by making a big deal of his win over him tonight. While it’s certainly true that Tszyu stopped Hogan a little faster than Charlo did in 2019, it was a much easier fight for the American.
Charlo battered Hogan in a one-sided fight. In contrast, Tszyu took a lot of shots tonight and didn’t show the same type of power or athletic ability as Charlo.
If Charlo had wanted to get Hogan out of there quicker, he could have easily. He wasn’t racing to stop Hogan, though, so there was no need to try and knockout him out in the first round to prove a point.
“I thought it was going to last a little bit longer but he started slowing down from round three,” said Tszyu at the post-fight news conference after his win over Hogan.
“We don’t need to rush, but I do believe I’m at the stage where I can compete with the big boys. [Jermall] Charlo got rid of Hogan in seven, and I did it in five.
“My pace was a little bit quicker than Charlo’s. I want to be a global boxing star, that’s my goal. I need those big names,” said Tszyu.
What Tszyu needs are fights against top 154-pounders that Americans will recognize. If Tszyu is serious about wanting to become a household name in the States, he’ll need to fight these guys:
- Jarrett Hurd
- Erislandy Lara
- Jeison Rosario
- Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams
- Tony Harrison
- Charles Conwell
- Israil Madrimov
- Sebastian Fundora
- Austin Trout
- Jack Culcay
- Bakhram Murtazaliev
Beating Hogan didn’t prove anything for Tszyu because all of the above names would likely have beaten him just as easily.
“It was a mixture of body and head because it was the headshot that dropped him,” said Tszyu.
“You break people down physically and mentally when you hit them to the body,” said Tszyu. “I showed it with Jeff Horn and I showed it here. I’ve got a lot of different punches in my arsenal.”
Beating Jeff Horn and Hogan isn’t the same thing as it beating world-class opposition.