1 week Ago By Simon Smale
The relief in Newcastle was palpable. Tim Tszyu beamed from ear to ear, the normally serious fighter almost giddy, giggling with excitement as his adoring public hailed his latest success. But amidst the revelry, the smiles, the back slapping and the accolades, there was a serious element to what had just transpired.
A lesson had been learned and the learnings from that lesson had been acted upon. "I learned from my mistakes," Tszyu said in the ring immediately after the fight. "You don't go in like a hot head from the first round and just abandon everything.
"I learned my lesson." The menacing Tim Tszyu was back in control on home soil. And what a harsh lesson it was.
In boxing, there could be none harsher than suffering such a brutal knockout at the hands of Bakhram Murtazaliev. Everything that could have gone wrong for Tszyu in Orlando, did, resulting in a nightmare defeat that set Tszyu back several steps in the eyes of the fickle boxing world. Tim Tszyu beats Joey Spencer by fourth round TKO in their super welterweight clash at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
Tszyu was sent tumbling out of all but one of the ranking body's top 15 lists, the IBF. From being the man, Tszyu had been relegated being just a man among many hundreds desperate for that chance. The only option was to come back home.
Now that he is here, perhaps he will wonder why he ever left? A lengthy ring walk saw Tszyu smiling his way to the ring, hands reaching out from behind the barriers at a packed Newcastle Entertainment Centre creating a waving forest of support through which he entered the loneliest space in sport. But there is comfort in familiarity. And whether it was simply the act of being at home or some other reason, but against an admittedly disappointing Joey Spencer, Tszyu recaptured the sense of menace that marked him out as a fighter to fear.
The rash, highlight-hunter who appeared in the States was gone. Tim Tszyu was in control from the first round of his contest in Newcastle. In his place, an imposing assassin stood in the centre of his own ring.
One might have expected Spencer to be more attack-minded, attempting to drag Tszyu into a war from which the uncomfortable memories of his United States adventures would resurface. But Tszyu never allowed that to happen. Instead of rushing in, Tszyu waited.
That may not have been what the action-starved crowd wanted to see after a largely disappointing, gritty card of fights, but they should have acknowledged that they were seeing something important take place: a maturing of their favourite son. Perhaps Tszyu had thought that his period of patently building was over after he had defeated Brian Mendoza in October 2023. Perhaps, blinded by the bright lights, Tszyu felt he needed to be something he wasn't in the USA.
But in Newcastle the slow build was back, the watchful, methodical, calculated and dominant destroyer of opponents in clear evidence as he dismantled Spencer. "I could feel myself feeling it in round one as if I wanted to do it," Tszyu told Main Event. Tim Tszyu may not have silenced the critics, but certainly given them pause for thought.
"In my head I was like, na, it's a storyline, play the storyline." As soon as it became apparent that Spencer was not going to offer enough to properly challenge Tszyu, that was the moment the Australian was able to turn on the style. The punishing jabs began to find their range.
Spencer's face began to look like it had been exfoliated by concrete slabs, such were the extent of the bruises that blossomed around the youngster's eyes. And given that opening, now Tszyu unleashed, capitalising on a jab that opened the defences before unloading with painful precision. That is the luxury afforded a man who has had to wait for his chance, a painful tenderisation of his rival to the point where Spencer's father had no choice but to throw in the towel to protect his son's future.
Winning this fight was non-negotiable: "I couldn't do a third consecutive loss," Tszyu poignantly said in the ring. But as is always the case in boxing, attention now turns to what comes next. That appears likely to be a contest against former unified welterweight world champion Keith Thurman, who marked his return to the ring following three years away with a dominant third round victory over Brock Jarvis in Sydney last month.
"If the fans want it and we can bring a mega-show to Australia ...
the boys at No Limit, you know who to contact," Tszyu said, imploring Thurman to sign the contract. Tszyu acknowledged that he would not be able to do the same to Thurman as he did to Spencer. Tim Tszyu was clearly comfortable to be among his home supporters.
Thurman is too experienced. Too clever. "It's completely different styles," Tszyu said of Thurman.
ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. "It's a whole different approach I'll have to take, and what I did tonight, I can't do the same with Keith.
I've got to prepare for something different." Different in the ring, yes. But outside? Tszyu has proven that home is where the heart is.
This was the 51st-straight victory for a member of the Tszyu family on Australian soil in professional bouts. If a formula works, why change it now? The landscape of boxing is changing at a pace unprecedented in sporting history. America was once the sport's Mecca, but now Wembley has just as much cache as Madison Square Garden, and Riyadh carries as much cash potential as a big Las Vegas bout.
It may be that Tszyu has to go back to the States to win a belt — Fundora has already been mentioned as an option he wants to pursue. But when and if he gets that belt back, why not stay in Australia? For now, Tszyu is the biggest name in town. Why would he want to go anywhere else? The ABC of SPORT.
