Tszyu gets off the deck to take charge and outpoint Gausha in U.S. debut

Rivera dominates Adorno with jab; Rodriguez KOs Velasco

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After all the hype about Australian junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu, the son of former undisputed junior welterweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, making his United States debut he suddenly found himself on the deck moments into the first round courtesy of a Terrell Gausha counter right hand over Tszyu’s lazy jab.

It was the second time Tszyu had been knocked down in his career, but he did not appear hurt. More annoyed and embarrassed than anything.

Tszyu, who also suffered a cut on his forehead from an accidental head butt in the first round, got up, quickly shook it off and proceeded to mostly dominate the very game Gausha for the rest of the fight en route to a hard-hitting unanimous decision in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Showtime — the same network on which Kostya Tszyu had his biggest fights — on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Tszyu won 116-111, 115-112 and 114-113, scores that seemed very generous toward Gausha. Fight Freaks Unite had Tszyu winning 118-110.

Regardless of the scoring, the uncommonly calm and poised Tszyu put on quite a show in his U.S. debut. He maintained his status as the WBO mandatory challenger due for a title shot in his next fight against the winner of the four-belt unification bout for the undisputed 154-pound championship between WBO titlist Brian Castano and three-belt titleholder Jermell Charlo, who meet May 14 in a rematch of their draw.

Gausha, a former world title challenger, had promised to start fast and did just that but he could not maintain his pace or punch output. Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs), 27, appeared in control by the third round. In the fourth round, Gausha noticeably slowed down.

“It was good that I faced adversity for the first time and I was able to come back,” Tszyu said of getting knocked down. “All respect to my opponent, Terrell Gausha. He’s a hell of a warrior and he’s a true gentleman. It was a simple flash knockdown. It was perfect timing. He’s a former Olympian. He’s got great credentials. That’s a great lesson for myself. I got back up and I dug deep.”

A left uppercut looked like it may have dropped Gausha in the fourth round, but referee Mark Nelson ruled it a slip. Still, it was clear at that point that Gausha was not the same as he had been in the previous rounds.

He spent an inordinate amount of time against the ropes as Tszyu pelted him with combinations. Tszyu landed many right hands and body shots.

A tremendous right hand rocked Gausha in the fifth round and he barely stayed upright. He ate a pair of uppercut and more body shots in a big Tszyu round.

Gausha’s legs looked rubbery for several rounds after that and he rarely mounted an offensive push, instead continually staying on the ropes, where Tszyu chopped away with right hands.

Tszyu had another big round in the 11th and was still going for a knockout in the 12th round. Gausha, with swelling on his face, may have been outgunned, but he showed enormous will and heart to make it to the final bell.

“I was just enjoying myself. I felt in control the whole time,” Tszyu said. “I kept the pressure on. I wasn’t going to back down. He kept landing shots but I said I’m going to keep coming forward and keep fighting.

“I kept my composure but I was just saying to myself this is a new round. I have to dig deep and I have to catch up here. I felt like I did that. I put the pressure on. I didn’t take one step backwards. I kept going on.”

According to CompuBox punch statistics, Tszyu landed 236 of 749 punches (32 percent) and Gausha landed 163 of 587 (28 percent). Tszyu also outlanded Gausha in every round after the third round. Tszyu also outlanded Gausha to the body 93-29.

Gausha (22-3-1, 11 KO), 34, a 2012 U.S. Olympian fighting out of Encino, California, who was coming off a one-year layoff, felt like he let Tszyu off the hook after the knockdown by not keeping the pressure on.

“I felt that I had him in trouble after the knockdown,” Gausha said. “I tried to jump on him but he’s a tough fighter. I take my hat off to him. He came prepared. I was ready for 12 hard rounds too.

“I think I got a little too excited and I tried to jump on him. But he was in shape so he recovered pretty good. He just pressed the action. That’s what he do. I knew he was going to come like that and we trained hard for that. I hope I gave the fans a great show. I trained hard. I poured my heart out. I’m happy with it. I hate losing but I went out like a champion.”

Tszyu likely will move on to a title shot next, be it against the Charlo-Castano II winner or possibly for a vacant title if the winner goes in another direction.

Tszyu admitted there is still plenty for him to work on but he said he will be on hand for Charlo-Castano II and hopes the winner will face him.

“I can improve on everything. Everything and anything,” Tszyu said. “There’s a lot more to learn. I just have to keep going, keep training hard and keep improving. I have to keep fighting warriors like Terrell Gausha.

“I’ll definitely be there for Charlo-Castano. I’ll definitely be watching. I’m coming for the two boys. Whoever wants it, come get it.”

Rivera routs Adorno

Lightweight up-and-comer Michel Rivera, using his quicker hands and a busy jab, rolled to a one-sided unanimous decision over Joseph Adorno in the co-feature.

Rivera won 97-93 on all three scorecards.

Rivera (23-0, 14 KOs), 23, a Dominican Republic native fighting out of Miami, controlled the fight primarily with his jab, which kept the power-punching Adorno at bay for most of the fight.

“That was four months of practicing in camp. I feel so good,” Rivera said. “I was looking for the knockout but that undefeated guy is tough.

“I would have stopped him if he didn’t keep on moving. Every time I wanted to land a big right he kept moving out of the way. I thought later in the fight he would slow down and stand and trade, but he kept on moving.”

According to CompuBox, Rivera landed 104 of 402 punches (26 percent), including 72 of 320 jabs (23 percent). Adorno landed just 67 of 330 punches (20 percent).

“I used my jab to great success tonight,” Rivera said. “You see how Muhammad Ali had a great jab? That’s what I used tonight to do what I had to do to win. I give this performance a great grade, an A.”

Rivera believes he is ready to fight for a world title or to at least face a bigger name.

“I’m definitely ready for a world title shot,” Rivera said. “I want Tank (Gervonta Davis). He has my belt. I want what is mine. That’s the guy that I want next. After he beats Rolly (Romero on May 28), I’m ready to take my belt.”

Adorno (14-1-2, 12 KOs), 22, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, suffered his first defeat after having fought to eight-round draws in his previous two bouts and getting released by Top Rank.

“What can I say? I thought it was a closer fight. I thought I won seven rounds,” Adorno said. “All he did was throw jabs. Everybody thought I was gonna get KO’d in the first round, and I went 10 (rounds) toe-to-toe with him. I know the fans saw a closer fight, at least a draw.”

Rodriguez KOs Velasco

Junior welterweight Elvis Rodriguez dominated and knocked out steppingstone foe Juan Jose Velasco in the seventh round of their scheduled 10-rounder in the Showtime opener.

Rodriguez (13-1-1, 12 KOs), 26, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, took command from the outset and never let up. He swelled Velasco’s left eye in the sixth round and then dropped him three times in the seventh.

He dropped him early in the seventh and then for the second time in a corner with a right hand with about 45 seconds left. Velasco (23-3, 14 KOs), 34, of Argentina, went down again moments later on a left hand at the end of a three-punch combination and referee Gary Ritter counted him out at 2 minutes, 49 seconds.

“I wasn’t surprised that I was able to dominate this fight,” Rodriguez said. “I was ready to demonstrate my skills with all of these fans here. I trained really well because I knew that Velasco was going to be a tough opponent. In the beginning of the fight, I started feinting and I was moving around a lot. But when I started making the combinations, I saw that it was hurting him so I kept with the power punches.

“I thought the fight was going to be over after I first knocked him down. But he did surprise me because he came back in that round. I just covered myself well for the remainder of that round and tried to take him out. I knew that he was having trouble with his eye. I could see that he was cut on the left eye and was also bleeding from his nose.”

Rodriguez was ahead 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55 at the time of the stoppage.

According to CompuBox, the Freddie Roach-trained Rodriguez landed 122 of 366 punches (33 percent) and Velasco landed just 41 of 268 (15 percent).

Rodriguez won his second fight in a row since joining PBC following a majority eight-round decision loss to Kenneth Sims Jr. in May 2021. Velasco’s three-fight winning streak ended.

Rodriguez hopes to step up his level of opposition in his next fight.

“I’m ready for anybody at 140 pounds — Gervonta Davis, Rolly Romero, whoever,” he said, although Davis and Romero, who fight each other on May 28, are both currently lightweights. “I’m ready and prepared. I want to fight the biggest names, the marquee ones. The 140-pound division is lit and I’ll be ready for whichever contender comes next.”

Photos: Esther Lin/Showtime

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