Notebook: It's Showtime for Tim Tszyu as 154 contender set for American debut
Conor Benn's next fight announced; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu, the unbeaten son of former undisputed junior welterweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, is set to make his United States debut.
Australia’s Tszyu will face former world title challenger and 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha in a 12-rounder that will headline a Showtime tripleheader on March 26 (9 p.m. ET) at The Armory in Minneapolis, Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions announced on Wednesday, making official a fight that has long been expected.
Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs), 27, comes to the network that had his father under contract for the biggest fights of his career in the early 2000s.
Now it will be Tim Tszyu who will get a chance to make a name for himself in the U.S. like this father did 20-plus years ago. He is risking his status as the WBO mandatory challenger and the next in line for the winner of the four-belt unification rematch for the undisputed title between Brian Castano and Jermell Charlo on May 14.
“I’m very excited to be fighting in the U.S., especially on Showtime, where my dad was featured for most of his career,” Tszyu said. “I’m proud and excited to continue on the Tszyu name with Showtime. Once I take care of Gausha, I will be coming for the title.”
Tszyu-Gausha was supposed to take place on March 19 on Showtime in Los Angeles on the Charlo-Castano II undercard, but when Castano suffered a minor biceps tear and the fight was postponed until May 14, Tszyu’s team protested to the WBO because Tszyu’s title shot was overdue and he would have to wait a few more months. Ultimately, things were worked out and the rematch was allowed to go forward with all of the belts at stake and Tszyu-Gausha was also rescheduled.
Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KO), 34, of Encino, California, who will be coming off a one-year layoff, is 2-2-1 in his last five fights. He is coming off a second-round knockout of Jamontay Clark last March. The two losses were decisions to Erickson Lubin in 2020 and in a world title fight against Erislandy Lara in 2017. He also has a draw during that stretch with former world titlist Austin Trout.
“I've been ready for this fight for a long time,” Gausha said. “I came into this game to be a world champion and fight the best. I expect Tim to come in great shape and I’ll also come in my best shape to put on a great fight for the fans. My coaches (Manny Robles and Prenice Brewer) are getting me prepared perfectly for the kind of fight I need to put on so that I can leave the ring victorious.”
There are also two 10-rounders on the telecast:
Dominican lightweight Michel Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs), 23, of Miami, will face Joseph Adorno (14-0-2, 12 KOs), 22, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the co-feature. Rivera hopes to parlay a win into an eventual fight with secondary titlist Gervonta Davis. Adorno’s last two fights were eight-round draws. This will be his first 10-rounder.
Junior welterweight Elvis Rodriguez (12-1-1, 11 KOS), 26, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, will meet Juan Jose Velasco (23-2, 14 KOs), 34, of Argentina, in the opener. Rodriguez rebounded from a majority eight-round decision loss to Kenneth Sims Jr. in May 2021 to knock out Juan Pablo Romero in the fifth round on the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant card in November in Rodriguez’s first fight with Premier Boxing Champions. Velasco has won three fights in a row since back-to-back knockout losses to Regis Prograis and Mario Barrios in 2018 and 2019.
Benn back in action
Rising British welterweight contender Conor Benn will return to action to face Chris van Heerden in a regional title defense on April 16 in the main event of Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced on Wednesday.
Benn (20-0, 13 KOs), 25, has improved dramatically over recent fights and is coming off his most significant victory, a spectacular fourth-round knockout of former junior welterweight world titlist Chris Algieri on Dec. 11 in Liverpool, England.
“I’m excited to step into the ring with Chris van Heerden," said Benn, the son of British legend Nigel Benn. “Van Heerden is a tough operator and a southpaw who will be in there giving it his all in every round. For me and my team it’s now about fighting every style that we can face as we continue to head towards world championship status and van Heerden brings something different to the table than I’ve not faced before.
“With that being said, this is another stepping stone for me on my journey to the top. I haven’t seen anything in van Heerden’s previous fights that I can’t deal with, and I expect another explosive victory. If he comes to fight or he wants to box, I can deliver that smoke either way.”
Van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs), 34, a South Africa naïve fighting out of Santa Monica, California, has not been very active in recent years but he is unbeaten in his past six bouts since, Errol Spence Jr., who would go on to win a welterweight world title, knocked him out in the eighth round in 2015. Van Heerden has not fought since a first-round no decision against 2020 prospect of the year Jaron Ennis in December 2020 in a fight that ended when van Heerden was unable to continue after suffering a bad cut from an accidental head butt.
"Sometimes it takes 10 years for that one year to come around that completely changes your life," Van Heerden said. “This is my year. I want to thank Conor Benn for taking the fight, knowing that I'm coming to beat him in his backyard.”
In the co-feature, England’s Chris Billam-Smith (14-1, 10 KOs), 31, will defend the European cruiserweight title for the second time in a rematch against Tommy McCarthy (18-3, 9 KOs), 31, of Northern Ireland, from whom he won the title by split decision in an action fight in July.
Lightweight Campbell Hatton (6-0, 2 KOs), 21, of England, the son of former junior welterweight champion and British mega star Ricky Hatton, will also fight on the undercard in a six-rounder against an opponent to be determined.
Quick hits
Former unified heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer Wladimir Klitschko, who is in Kyiv, Ukraine with his brother, Kyiv mayor and fellow former heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer Vitali Klitschko, said forcefully during an interview with BBC 5 Live Radio that light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol, who is from Russia, should not be allowed to fight Canelo Alvarez on May 7 in a DAZN PPV fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas while Russia wages an unprovoked wart on Ukraine. “Absolutely not,” Klitschko said when asked about the fight. “It’s nothing against the personalities or athletes. It’s about the politics of Russia. Every Russian representative in this case needs to be sanctioned, because this way we show to Russia that the world is against this senseless war, and there is no good in this war.”
The WBA on Wednesday ordered undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor to make a mandatory defense against Alberto Puello (20-0, 10 KOs), 27, of the Dominican Republic. He was the interim titlist when the WBA eliminated all interim belts last summer and made those fighters mandatory challengers. The sides have 30 days to negotiate a deal or a purse bid will be scheduled. However, Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), 31, of Scotland, said after his disputed split decision win over Jack Catterall on Feb. 26 that he likely would move up to welterweight, so Taylor-Puello probably will not happen and the four belts Taylor unified last May will splinter.
The WBC said on Wednesday that the fight between featherweight titlist Mark Magsayo and mandatory challenger Rey Vargas, a former junior featherweight titleholder, is expected to take place in July on a Premier Boxing Champions card. Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs), 26, of the Philippines, won the title from Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision on Jan. 22. Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs), 31, of Mexico, ended a 2½-year layoff caused by injuries, the pandemic and a promoter change, to cruise to a near-shutout of Leonardo Baez in November on the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant undercard.
Mayerlin Rivas, who holds the WBA women’s junior featherweight title, has signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing, the company announced. Rivas (16-4-2, 10 KOs), 34, of Venezuela, won the vacant title by unanimous decision over Laura Ledezma in her last fight, which was in February 2020 in Panama City, Panama, Ledezma’s hometown. Rivas previously held the WBA bantamweight title. “I am thrilled to be joining Matchroom,” Rivas said. “There’s so many big fights out there for me with the champions at my weight, where I want to unify and become undisputed. Fights up at featherweight would be huge too, and I know that there are many rising stars that would be great fights too, so I am looking forward to getting back between the ropes and showing what I do best.”
Tickets for the much-anticipated junior lightweight title unification fight between Oscar Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) and Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) go on sale via the AXS website beginning Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. Ticket prices are $79, $129, $254 and $404. The fight will headline a Top Rank Boxng on ESPN card on April 16 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Show and tell
Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has appeared on several cards over the past few years, including multiple cards in the ongoing Seidman program set, a 20-card Topps on-demand all-Fury set and several others. Leaf now has rights to produce Fury cards and he is in some of their releases that came out late last year. I recently bought some and here are two in my collection. One is a from the Pro Set Stars set and is a numbered parallel limited to 30 copies (per the stamping on the back) and the other is from the Young Stars set and is a parallel limited to 99 copies. They are very colorful on very nice stock and I’m glad to have them but I must take issue with Leaf on the horrendous attention to detail to the text on the back of the cards which both read, in part, “Fury has beaten former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder three times ending that trilogy.” FYI: Fury won the second and third fights. The first fight was ruled a draw. Do better, Leaf.
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While there’s a woman’s boxing match going on I feel I would be doing them a disservice lol f I didn’t say something about the #TWONINUTERDS ! Every chance I get I shout about their 2 minute rounds!! In every other combat sport there is men and women fight by the same rules UFC 5 minute rounds for both, mauy thai 3 minutes for both, why in the hell are women still fighting at 2 minutes? It’s 2022 C’mon man, maybe it’s the commission of all 4 belts that need to grow a pair of Gonads!! All they’re doing is making themselves look horrible! C’mon ladies use your voice to make a stand for yourself
I’ve loved watching Connor Benn progress fight after fight! I remember his earlier years he was like a Bull in a China closet! He was all over the place, always swinging for the fences!! His last 2/3 fights have shown tremendous growth! It’s obvious he’s putting in the hard work, grinding daily, so that when he steps into the ring he’s calmer, more composed, he’s learned how to take control in the right manner! I’m know that Connor Benn WILL BE A CHAMPION VERY VERY SOON !!! If not this year 2023 for sure!!!!!