Tim Tszyu will make the primary defence of his WBO tremendous welterweight title, and probably add one other belt to his assortment, when he takes on Brian Mendoza on Sunday, October 15.
As has been the case along with his previous two bouts, this struggle will happen on Sunday afternoon in Australia, permitting for a primetime Saturday evening broadcast on Showtime within the US.
The Aussie famous person was purported to be combating in America by now however his long-awaited assembly with Jermell Charlo has eluded him up to now.
As an alternative he’ll face off with interim WBC champion Mendoza, though there may be hope the bout will likely be a chance to unify the total titles. Venue and ticket particulars will likely be introduced within the coming weeks.
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Tim Tszyu set to tackle Brian Mendoza in Australia
In an announcement launched on Thursday, Tszyu mentioned he was excited to step into ring with one of many world’s finest.
“I’m anticipating a battle and I’m anticipating Mendoza to check me greater than another fighter,” he mentioned.
“He has energy in each fingers and has proven he thrives off being that underdog, so I doubt coming to Australia will hassle him however don’t anticipate a single individual to be cheering for him.
“This was the struggle to be made and the one struggle that had me pumped up.
“Kinds make fights and it has the potential to be a banger as a result of we each go in search of the struggle, have heavy fingers and chase these killer knockouts everybody likes to replay over, and over, and over once more.”
“The highway to undisputed continues, it’s simply going to take slightly longer. However belief me, the journey to get there will likely be manner sweeter.”
Tszyu gained the interim WBO title when defeating Tony Harrison in March earlier than he defended the strap in opposition to Carlos Ocampo in June.
With Charlo opting to maneuver up two weight lessons for a blockbuster struggle in opposition to undisputed tremendous middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez moderately than defend his 154-pound titles in opposition to Tszyu, the WBO introduced their intention to strip the American.
In an announcement earlier this month, the WBO confirmed Charlo would stay their tremendous welterweight champion till the Canelo bout, permitting the struggle to be billed as “undisputed versus undisputed”, after which he’ll be stripped and Tszyu will likely be elevated to full champion.
The WBC is but to verify how they are going to deal with the scenario.
Mendoza gained the interim belt when he knocked out Sebastian Fundora again in April, seeing the 29-year-old American enhance to 22-2 with 16 knockouts.
The WBC are being lobbied to observe the WBO’s lead and elevate Mendoza to full champion, giving both man the prospect to stroll away with two of the division’s 4 titles when he faces Tszyu.
It’s been a powerful turnaround for Mendoza who has gained three on the trot since a tough stretch which noticed him lose twice in three fights.
The primary win on his three-fight run coincidentally got here on the identical card as Tszyu’s US debut.
Shortly after Tszyu rallied again from a flash first-round knockdown to attain a unanimous resolution win over Terrell Gausha, Mendoza fought in a non-televised, “walkout” bout in entrance of just about nobody as The Armory in Minneapolis cleared out and the crew started packing up.
Simply three appearances later, he’ll be combating Tszyu on enemy soil in a world title unification bout.
