Boxing Match
Time: 4am Sunday (GMT)
The son of boxing legend Kostya Tszyu, 28 year-old Australian Tszyu (21-0, 15 KO’s) was poised to finally get his Junior Middleweight title-shot against Jermell Charlo back on January 29th, but when Charlo broke his hand in training Team Tszyu had to make other plans;
Enter 29-3-1 (21 wins by KO, 3 KO losses) Tony Harrison, a slick, skillful 32 year old Detroit fighter, himself a two-time opponent of Charlo back in 2018-2019 (Harrison won their first fight on points, but suffered a late fight KO in their rematch).
Harrison is by no means a stay-busy showcase fight for Tszyu. In Harrison, Tszyu will find a smart, mobile, experienced opponent who has consistently fought at a higher level of competition than Tszyu has. Harrison is coming off a dominant points win over Sergio Garcia (April, 2022), and is desperately looking for another title-shot, which he should receive, provided he gets by Tszyu.
The doubters of Harrison can point to the fact that, outside of his victory over Charlo, he has a tendency to get clipped with big punches and stopped late in fights (Charlo being the notable example, though he was also stopped by Willie Nelson in the 9th round of a 10 rounder back in 2015, in addition to pressure-fighter Jarrett Hurd stoppage, again in the 9th round, in 2017).
Those believing in Tszyu may feel encouraged in light of Harrison’s aforementioned losses. Tszyu is a come-forward pressure fighter, maintaining a focused attack to the body in his fights with seemingly very solid power. He’s fought most of his career in his native Australia, steadily facing stiffer and stiffer opposition, bringing us to the upcoming fight with Harrison.
All that being said, we think Tszyu is still relatively untested, and his last fight against Terrell Gausha may give some reason to back the underdog here. In the Gausha fighter Tszyu had some rocky moments very early, getting dropped in the very first round. Though to his credit he picked himself up off the canvas and went on to dominate the rest of the fight with his characteristic walk-down style of breaking down opponents.
Tszyu can be a relatively one-note, plodding fighter. His feet aren’t great, he fights at one-speed, and he’s kind of there to be hit. You know what’s coming, but it’s one thing knowing what’s coming, it’s another thing altogether being able to neutralize or stop it.
This is genuinely an almost perfect match-up for both fighters, it’ll test Tszyu’s ability to effectively pressure a world-class (or border-line world-class) opponent, and Harrison’s ability to overcome what has long been a glaring question mark about his resilience.
Our Picks:
Harrison ML @21/10
Taking the under-dog here but we the real value could be in play betting, keeping an eye on Harrison Decision a few rounds in and maybe even keeping an eye on Harrison’s gas tank forcing a late KO from Tszyu, but @21/10 we wont pass up the value of an upset.
Also – Taking Hardman and Mahoney on the undercard. Two young Aussies on the up.
Image Credit: Badlefthook.com
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