Notebook: Gausha not paying attention to Tszyu hype ahead of Showtime fight

Andrade-Parker interim super middleweight title bout announced; Buatsi to face Richards in all-London affair; Quick hits; Show and tell

Mar 21, 2022

A quick note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.

Virtually all of the interest surrounding the main event of the Showtime-televised tripleheader on Saturday (9 p.m. ET) revolves around the United States debut of Tim Tszyu, the undefeated Australian junior middleweight contender and son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.

One man not caught up in the Tszyu hype is his Terrell Gausha, Tszyu’s opponent in the 12-rounder at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Gausha, a 2012 U.S. Olympian and former world title challenger, may be in the background leading into the fight but doesn’t plan for it to be that way afterward.

“I’m just motivated period,” Gausha said. “It’s got nothing to do with any hype around Tszyu. It has everything to do with where I’m at in my life and my career. Things are happening at the right time for me. I’m in a good place. This is the perfect fight for me at this point in my career.

“I appreciate him for taking this challenge. Most other fighters would try to protect their record. This shows that he believes in himself. He wants the tough fights. That being said, I think he took the wrong fight.”

In facing Gausha, Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs), 27, is risking his position as the WBO 154-pound mandatory challenger and next up for the winner of the unification rematch for the undisputed title between three-belt titlist Jermell Charlo and WBO titleholder Brian Castano, who headline a Showtime card on May 14 in Los Angeles.

“We’ve been working on some different things for this fight,” said Gausha, who has been sparring with Castano and welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. “We’re going to give Tim Tszyu a different look than he’s seen before. Compared to most of the fights that everyone has seen, they’re going to see something new from me on March 26.”

Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs), 34, of Encino, California, suffered both of his losses by decision, to Erislandy Lara in a 2017 world title bout and Erickson Lubin in 2020.

He bounced back from the loss to Lubin for an impressive second-round knockout of Jamontay Clark in his last fight, which was on Showtime last March.

“That was a good fight for me against Clark,” said Gausha, who is training with Manny Robles and Prenice Brewer in Los Angeles. “I wanted to get right back in the ring, but sometimes it’s hard to make fights with certain guys. I have a great opportunity against Tszyu and I’m looking to capitalize and build off of my last performance. I’m going to make an even bigger splash in this fight.

“I expect Tim to try to bring pressure and come forward. He’s a one-trick pony. What you see is what you get. He doesn’t do too many things spectacularly, but what he does do well, he does it very well, and that’s bring the pressure. We have something ready for that and we’re going to do our thing no matter what he tries to do. … I’m knocking on the door of a title fight right now. A win over Tszyu would be great for my career and get me to the world titles.”

Andrade-Parker announced

Queensberry promotions’ Frank Warren, who won a purse bid last month for the rights to the vacant WBO interim super middleweight title bout between middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade, who is moving up in weight, and Zach Parker, announced that the fight will take place on May 21 at Pride Park Stadium in Derby, England

“This is a dream come true,” Parker said. “As a fighter you have various hopes when you start out in the sport. I think every one of us dreams of headlining a show at the football team you support. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet to be honest. It will be incredible to walk out and see the stadium packed with fans. I can’t wait. Demetrius is a great champion and props to him for coming over here but I know I have the beating of him. I’m too big for him. We’ll see on the 21st, but someone’s ‘0’ has got to go.”

Parker (22-0, 16 KOs), 27, of England, will be taking an enormous step up in competition. Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), 33, a 2008 Olympian from Providence, Rhode Island, will be fighting outside of the United States for the first time as a pro.

“There can be no questioning the pedigree of Demetrius Andrade,” Warren said. “It is why we went above and beyond to win the purse bid to give our man every crucial advantage. It is going to be such a special night and I feel sure the Derby public will come out in force to roar Zach on in the biggest fight of his career.”

Warren won the purse bid for $1,834,050, beating the offer of $1,750,000 made by Andrade promoter Matchroom Boxing. Andrade is entitled to 65 percent ($1,192,132.50) and Parker gets 35 percent ($641,917.50).

Buatsi-Richards set for DAZN

Rising light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi and former world title challenger Craig Richards will meet in an all-London bout that will headline a Matchroom Boxing card on May 21 (DAZN), Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Monday.

The venue will be in London. Hearn said he will announce it their news conference on Tuesday.

“A big well done and thank you to Joshua and Craig for taking this fight. It’s exactly the kind of fight boxing should be making,” Hearn said. “Two domestic light heavyweights on the verge of a world title shot decide to put it on the line rather than wait in a queue.”

Buatsi (15-0, 13 KOs), 29, has knocked out 10 opponents in a row, including in last bout when he stopped Ricards Bolotniks in the 11th round in August in a WBA title eliminator.

Buatsi is coming off a hand injury, however. He was slated to face former title challenger Maxim Vlasov in December on the undercard of Joseph Parker-Dereck Chisora II but withdrew because of the injury.

“Two London boys coming together, it’s going to be a huge night,” Buatsi said. “The light heavyweight scene in this country is thriving and I’m glad that we are able to get one of the biggest fights made. The crowd are going to be in for a treat. I am coming to win and nothing else. I am sure Richards is doing the same. He had a close fight with (world titlist Dmitry) Bivol so he will want to make things straight, but I have other plans. Win well and then push onto the world title by any means necessary.”

Richards (17-2-1, 10 KOs), 31, lost a unanimous decision to Bivol challenging for his title last May, but gave him a few problems and fought much better than most expected. He has won his only bout since, a sixth-round knockout of Marek Matyia in October.

“We’re two top-tier fighters from the U.K.,” Richards said of himself and Buatsi. “This is one of the biggest London domestic clashes for a long time. This is a very exciting fight for us both, but also one the fans will enjoy. Buatsi has got his plans and I’m sure he’ll be well prepared, but nobody is going to stop me from fulfilling my destiny of becoming a world champion. He is a solid competitor and will be coming to win, but I am confident and believe I have the tools to get the job done. I proved myself at world level and I’m eager to prove that’s where I belong.”

Quick hits

In an unusual move, Top Rank has a date request on the agenda at Wednesday’s Nevada State Athletic Commission for Feb. 8, 2024 for an ESPN event to take place at a venue to be determined in Las Vegas. Typically, the Nevada commission does not accept date requests that far in advance but made an exception because that is when the Super Bowl will take place in Las Vegas and event and hotel space is taken far ahead of time.

Welterweight Tiger Johnson (2-0, 1 KO), a 2020 U.S. Olympian, and Puerto Rican junior featherweight Carlos Caraballo (14-1, 14 KOs) are among those who will be in action on the Miguel Berchelt-Jeremiah Nakathila undercard on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Resorts World in Las Vegas, Top Rank announced. Their bouts are part of the ESPN+ exclusive stream of preliminaries (6:45 p.m. ET). Johnson will face an opponent to be named in a six-rounder and Caraballo, coming off his first loss, faces Mexico’s Luis Fernando Saavedra (9-6, 3 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

Junior welterweight contender Jose Zepeda (36-2, 28 KOs), 32, of La Puente, California, knocked out Mexico’s Francisco Perez (18-13-1, 13 KOs) in the second round on Saturday night in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in the main event of a Zanfer Promotions card. Zepeda, whose only losses came in world title fights, scored three knockdowns in the second round to get the stoppage at 1 minute, 2 seconds.

Show and tell

Roy Jones Jr. was 34-0, the reigning WBC light heavyweight champion and the consensus pound-for-pound king when he defended his title against Montell Griffin, who was 26-0 and coming off a win over James Toney. Jones was a heavy favorite and had been untouchable to that point in his career. But Griffin, a crafty technician with a strong amateur pedigree as a 1992 Olympian, gave Jones fits. Jones was credited with a debatable knockdown in the seventh round and clung to a lead on two scorecards (77-75 and 76-75) going into the ninth round while Griffin was ahead 76-75 on the third. Late in the ninth round, Jones dropped Griffin to a knee with a right hand but then hit him with another right and a left hook while he was down. Griffin fell over face first and was counted out by referee Tony Perez, who then disqualified Jones for hitting Griffin while he was already down.

Naturally, there was controversy. Some thought Griffin deserved an Oscar nomination for acting as though he was badly hurt by the late punches. Regardless, Jones did him twice when he was down and it cost him his title and perfect record, though he would absolutely erase Griffin in devastating fashion in the first round to regain the title in a rematch five months later. Their first fight was on March 21, 1997 — 25 years ago on Monday. Here is a rare thin cardboard site poster from the fight in my collection.

Gausha photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime

You can now read Fight Freaks Unite in the new Substack app for iPhones.

Available for iOS and Android

With the app, you’ll have a dedicated inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts won’t get lost in your email filters or stuck in spam. Longer posts won’t be cut off by your email app. Overall it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.

The Substack app is available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.

To upgrade your subscription please go here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe

Fight Freaks Unite