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United States of Tszyu Gets Back in the Win Column
Aussie star Tim Tszyu (25-2), who I saw make his stateside debut at The Armory here in Minneapolis, was back in action this weekend against Joey Spencer (19-2). Tszyu was set to conquer the 154 lb world until he caught a Harry Potter cut/scar on his forehead against Sebastian Fondura (22-1-1) and ended up losing mostly because human eyes aren't meant to see completely coated in blood. Tszyu then attempted an old-school, no-tune-up fight, against Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0) and the world found out that Murtazaliev may just be a very, very bad man when he obliterated Tszyu.
That brings us back to Tszyu v Spencer. The first two rounds saw Tszyu throw almost zero punches and looked like he was either worried about his chin, ring rust, or both. However, that was short lived when Tszyu decided to start punching and quickly assaulted Spencer into a 4th-round KO.
Given what we know about Tszyu's mentality, I would expect to see him against a real killer in his next fight. 154 is better when Tszyu is viable.
The fight action on ESPN+:
Torrez Jr Guts out a Gritty Win Against Guido
The main event in Vegas between Richard Torrez Jr (13-0) and Guido Vianello (13-3-1) gave us the first walkout with a live piano I've seen in my life. Both fighters were Olympic heavyweights with Torrez being a silver medalist. Top Rank has been in search of the next great American heavyweight for sometime now. Most recently, we hoped it would be Jared Anderson until Martin Bakole nearly Bakole'ed Anderson's head off in LA. That leaves us with Torrez Jr. The last great mustached hope. Guido not only has an awesome name and background, comes from a prominent tennis family, but he also is by far the stiffest competition thus far for Torrez Jr. Guido got docked a point deduction in the 2nd for holding as he tried to weather Torrez Jr's high energy, bum rush, faster hands style. Guido seemed to find his footing a bit in the middle rounds as he began to use his jab to disrupt and started to time Torrez Jr. Torrez Jr was able to continue his pressure as he got inside Guido's defenses easily as both fighters gassed out. Richard Torrez Jr, ultimately, got what he needed here. He got a win, his first 10 round fight, and was forced to get gritty, sloppy and dirty against a wiley vet.
Lindolfo Stays Unbeaten After Taking Down Elivs
The co-main event saw Lindolfo Delgado (23-0) against Elvis Rodriguez (17-2-1). Not that long, ago Lindolfo was seen as a blue-chip fighter in the Top Rank stable, but after some lackluster performances, his star has dulled. Elvis also was seen as a top level fighter who was trying to get back on track. Lindolfo fought with no pace or urgency, while Elvis landed only one shot at a time. In the 9th, Elvis landed a big punch and/or tripped Lindolfo and had a chance to swing momentum in his favor. However, it also looked like Evlis got hurt in the last seconds of that round, preventing him from going all out in the 10th. I scored it 97-93 for Elvis, while the judges had it a draw, 96-94, 96-94 for the Majority Decision win in Lindolfo's favor.
Mason Continues to Build Top Prospect Resume
Carlos Ornelas (28-5) was a late replacement opponent against superstar in the waiting, Abdullah Mason (18-0). Mason struggled with the style of Ornelas' southpaw stance early in the fight. In the end, Mason got the job done but showed he still has work to do. Instead of trying to throw every pitch 100 mph, he needs to throw some curveballs and change ups into his arsenal to keep people guessing. He has also not completely addressed his defensive hole that was exposed two fights ago, leading him to being knocked down twice. Get that lead right hand duct-taped to your chin and keep working on head movement. Abdullah has all the tools to be a championship fighter for a very long time. He just needs to fine-tune a few things to get there.
Earlier in the day on ESPN+:
Janibek Demolishes Ngamissengue in Kazakhstan
I am going to attempt to move past the commentators constantly comparing Janibek Alimkhanuly (17-0) to future Hall of Famer and fellow Kazakhstan legend, Gennady "GGG" Golovkin. If that wasn't bad enough the broadcast team then began to say that Janibek has now evolved like an Eastern European pokemon and is actually a mixture of GGG and... Canelo Alvarez. Yeah... Okay.
But we aren't here to talk about that insanity. Lets talk about Janibek demolishing Anauel Ngamissengue (14-1). Janibek looked a class above Ngamissengue throughout the entire fight. Not the most exciting affair but it left me with one thought. Janibek needs some big time opponents. He either needs to cement himself as the king of 160 lbs or he should look to dip his toe in 168 and Canelo's domain.
What we saw from the UK on DAZN:
Hrgovic Out Sloppies a Sloppy Joe Joyce
The big boy, big punching, no cardio, minimal defense, slopfest of Filip Hrgovic (18-1) vs Joe Joyce (16-4), somehow exceeded and underperformed our expectations. I watched holding my 2-month-old baby, at a restaurant celebrating two birthdays while eating pizza and drinking cocktails and streaming on my phone. This fight was essentially the episode of The Simpsons "The Homer They Fall". Homer is diagnosed with an unusually thick skull made for taking a beating, so Moe talks him into a boxing career. The only problem is Homer is an over-the-hill, overweight man with no skills. We basically saw two Homer Simpsons with power punch each other over and over again for 10 rounds, but without the best parts of Drederick Tatum or Fan Man. Hrgovic comes away with a decision win and stays semi-relevant. Joyce, on the other hand, needs to contemplate retirement.