Australian boxing’s prodigal son Tim Tszyu has shrugged off a dog bite that required 26 stitches to his arm 23 days ago, to come out swinging and knock out Carlos Ocampo 72-seconds into the first round of their super-welterweight bout on the Gold Coast.
In his first world title defence, Tszyu exploded from his corner and landed 14 shots out of his first 36, with 13 connecting with the head of his rival, and one devastating blow to the body. In contrast, Ocampo failed to land a single shot from 17 attempts.
The Sydney-born son of multiple light-welterweight world champion Kostya Tszyu will now try to emulate the feats of his famous father and unify the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF super-welterweight belts in a blockbuster bout against Jermell Charlo before a September 30 deadline in Las Vegas.
Tszyu didn’t need to take the Ocampo fight, given he’s the mandatory challenger to take on undisputed super welterweight champion Charlo and he had further cause to cancel when savaged by a friend’s American pit bull at a barbeque last month.
But he shrugged off the injury and subsequent surgery to reinforce his credentials on home turf. After Tszyu knocked Ocampo down with a right jab, the Mexican tried to continue but Tszyu finished him off with a barrage of shots that left the challenger sprawling on the canvas.
“Don’t worry about the dogfight, Tim Tszyu is in destruction mode,” Ben Damon said on Main Event. “He’s the risk taker, the soul taker, he’s the real deal ready for the world. He just took out a world class opponent inside a round with an absolutely brutal barrage.”
Compared to Tszyu’s fiercely-fought ninth round knockout victory in March over Tony Harrison — the only man to have beaten Charlo – this was a cinch as the 28-year-old Tszyu followed in the footsteps of his famous father Kostya, who famously beat all five Mexicans he came up against in his career.
The astonishing performance extended Tszyu’s undefeated record to 23 wins from 23 fights with a 17th KO.
“There’s no doubt I’m going to America, that’s the land I want to conquer,” Tszyu said after the bout. “I’m not satisfied with his interim belt - I want all four and I want the name Charlo on my resume. Let’s dance in October.
Acknowledging the grisly injury to his upper-arm but refusing to dwell on it, Tszyu said: “I copped a lot of different adversities, so [the Ocampo bout] was about getting the job done. I didn’t think it would be that early because this guy is a warrior. I am coming back with four belts.”
