The ‘insane’ prospect facing Tim Tszyu should he beat Dennis Hogan

One fight to rule them all. That’s the ‘insane’ scenario that could face Tim Tszyu this year if the stars align in the super welterweight division and he gets his long-awaited shot at a world title.

Tszyu is back in the ring next Wednesday when he faces tough Irish veteran Dennis Hogan in Newcastle. Hogan has been in with some elite level fighters of late, most notable a hugely controversial loss to Jaime Munguia in 2019, which should have seen him become the WBO’s junior middleweight champion.

Tim Tszyu demolished Bowyn Morgan in December and now faces tough Irishman Dennis Hogan.Credit:Getty

But it is the Sydney boxing bluebood who will start as a heavy favourite after a pair of dominant wins over Jeff Horn and Bowyn Morgan. He looks as if he would be well at home at the world title level and ominously, Tszyu believes he could yet be twice as good, if not more, than what he has already shown in the ring.

“I’m only 26, I still haven’t reached my peak. I’ve got another 50, 60, 70 per cent more to improve on. That’s dangerous for people in my weight division,” Tszyu said on a hit-and-run media blitz into Brisbane on Monday.

“Each fight I’ll be bigger, stronger, better. This camp I can really feel it. You’re going to see another improved Tim Tszyu.”

COVID has taken a significant toll on a global sport like boxing but even at the best of times, the fights most fans want to see take an eternity to happen, if they ever happen at all. The two key names for Tszyu are American Jermell Charlo, who owns the WBA, WBC and IBF belts, and Argentine Brian Castano, the WBO champion.

Castano wants to take on Charlo in his next assignment after winning the WBO title, meaning whoever won that bout would be the undisputed super welterweight champion. Should Tszyu secure the mandatory challenger position, he could find himself in a position to try and sweep them all in his first title shot.

“That’s pretty insane, isn’t it,” Tszyu said. “I need to get myself a mandatory and get myself into that position. When we do fight at that level and for those belts, I’m 100 per cent certain I’ll be ready.”

Tszyu’s promoter Matt Rose isn’t convinced the Castano-Charlo fight will be made so easily, even though they are both contracted to Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). Either way, Rose said, Tszyu would gladly step up against either man, whether the division has been unified or not.

“It makes sense that it will. That’s the logic behind it. PBC has both fighters, so you would think they just fight. But that doesn’t always happen in the world of boxing. Because it’s like that, we are right in the frame. Tim is No.1 in the world with the WBO, No.3 with the IBF,” Rose said.

“I mean, he [Tszyu] could have one fight and take out the whole division. We’re at the stage now where Tim really wants a world title.”

Talks are already underway with the Queensland government to stage Tszyu’s potential world title bid at Suncorp Stadium. Whether the debt-ridden state government is in a mood to bankroll boxing again, like it did for the Horn-Manny Pacquiao fight in 2017, remains to be seen but the early signs appear promising.

The lure of money and crowds could be enough to draw either Charlo or Castano to Australian shores but either way, Tszyu said he was coming for their belts and would gladly do it in America, a country he always believed undersold his famous fighting father Kostya.

“They feared him as well. He was the most-avoided fighter in the division. Oscar De La Hoya ran away from him, (Floyd) Mayweather was running, they all avoided him,” said Tszyu, who always loved to watch the American commentary of Kostya’s blistering stoppage of Zab Judah in 2001.

“They were very biased,” Tszyu said. “Look what happened.”

Sports, results and expert commentary delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up to the Herald‘s weekday newsletter here and The Age‘s weekly newsletter here.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article