By Mark Eisner: WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs) pounded out a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision over challenger Brian Mendoza (22-3, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia.
Tszyu had Mendoza hurt in rounds seven and eleven. In the tenth round, Mendoza hit Tszyu with a hard body shot that hurt him. Tszyu played it off like he was hit low, but it was clearly a legal blow.
Tszyu won by the scores 116-111, 116-112, and 117-111.
After the fight, Tszyu called out IBF, WBA & WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo to face him next. That’s not likely to happen.
“He’s tough, he’s slick, and he’s world-class for a reason,” said Tszyu about Mendoza after the fight.
Tim Tszyu is expected to win tonight in the title defense of his WBO 154-lb belt against Brian Mendoza at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia. Tszyu has a serious threat in front of him tonight, as Mendoza is a huge puncher and on another level to the opposition Tim has fought thus far.
Tszyu has a serious threat in front of him tonight, as Mendoza is a huge puncher and on another level to the opposition Tim has fought thus far.
Boxing News 24 will discuss the fight and provide updates & results below of tonight’s live action.
Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) is motivated and basically has a puncher’s chance against Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs), but you can’t rule out an upset victory for the challenger.
Advantages for Brian Mendoza
– Motivation/hunger: wants to be wealthy
– Similar power as Tszyu
– Self-confidence
– Counter-punching ability
Up until recently, the 29-year-old Albuquerque, New Mexico native Mendoza was a complete unknown to many fans, as he’d done nothing in his career to distinguish himself as someone worthy of paying attention to.
After upset knockout wins against former unified junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario and WBC interim 154-lb champion Sebastian ‘Towering Inferno’ Fundora, Mendoza has suddenly become a name.
Still, he didn’t look all that impressive in either of those fights, but he surprised both of those guys with big shots to score knockouts. Fundora was mopping the deck with Mendoza the entire fight until getting careless in the seventh round and running into a big right hand.
Mendoza’s power makes him a threat
“He’s a threat from the standpoint that if he lands the big bomb, he can do some damage. Just ask Sebastian Fundora,” said Dan Rafael to BET US Boxing, talking about Brian Mendoza, who is challenging Tim Tszyu tonight for his WBO junior middleweight title.
Tszyu won’t get careless against Mendoza tonight the way that Fundora and Rosario did, as they both treated the fight with him like it was a sure-thing victory.
They didn’t take him seriously and wound up paying for it. The 28-year-old Tszyu knows what he’s up against tonight and won’t ignore his defense by throwing wild shots against Mendoza. Still, Tszyu is going to get hit, and he’ll need to able to withstand some big punches to get the victory tonight.
“That’s the win that he’s [Mendoza] living off of right now from back earlier this year where he had lost pretty much every single round,” said Rafael about Mendoza’s upset win over the 6’5 1/2″ Fundora earlier this year in April.
“This was when he was fighting Fundora, who at the time was the WBC’s interim title holder, and it was a whitewash up until the point where he [Mendoza] landed a massive shot and knocked him out.
“Many people will probably pick at the end of this year as the knockout of the year and a big stunning upset. So that obviously gave him a lot of clout coming off of that win and got him some name recognition,” said Rafael about Mendoza’s win over Fundora.
The victory for Mendoza over Fundora wasn’t that big of a deal because Sebastian had struggled previously against very beatable Erickson Lubin and fought to a ten-round draw against Jamontay Clark. Fundora is a good fighter but very easy to hit and had been hurt by Lubin in their war last year.
“Obviously, he’s a pretty good fighter; he’s got some solid wins under his belt,” said Rafael. “He polished off by knockout the remnants of Jeison Rosario, who is a former unified title holder in the weight class at 154 pounds.
“He’s a solid fighter, but the thing I’ve talked about leading up to this fight is that he’s at one level and in my mind, and Tim Tszyu is at another level. It’s not that Mendoza is no good,” said Rafael.