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WBO number one junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu 21-0 (15) has admitted he still has room for improvement followed his unanimous decision victory over 2012 Olympian Terrell Gausha 22-3-1 (11) at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old Australian was dropped late in the opening frame by sneaky right hand but did not appear hurt and finished the round strongly.
With each stanza Tszyu got stronger and stronger, attacking the body with both hand and targeting the head with right crosses and uppercuts. His constant pressure forced the 34-year-old to box largely off the ropes for much of the fight.
Gausha was able to land the ocassional right hand – a punch Tszyu seemingly couldn’t avoid – but he was not active enough to win many rounds. According to CompuBox, he was outlanded in every round after the third. Tszyu wore Gausha down by landing 207 power punches at a 39% connect rate. Tszyu averaged 17.25 power punches landed per round to Gausha’s 8.83. Tszyu also held a significant edge in body punches landed, 93-29.
The end result was a suprisingly close decision on the official scorecards. Judge Robert Hecko had it 114-113, judge Bill Lerch saw it 116-111, while judge Patrick Morley carded 115-112, all for Tszyu.
“It was all so quick,” Tszyu said. “It was good that I faced adversity for the first time and I was able to come back. 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.
“I was just enjoying myself. I felt in control the whole time. 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 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.
“I can improve on everything. Everything and anything. 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.”
Gausha was classy in defeat.
“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 does. I knew he was going to come like that and we trained hard for that.”
Tszyu is now in line to face the winner of the four-belt unification bout between WBC, WBA and IBF champion Jermell Charlo 34-1-1 (18) and WBO counterpart Brian Castano 17-0-2 (12) that will take place in Los Angeles on May 14.
“I’ll definitely be there for Charlo-Castano,” Tszyu said. “I’ll definitely be watching. I’m coming for the two boys. Whoever wants it, come get it.”
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