Tim Tszyu sent a message to world by TKO'ing Tony Harrison to become the interim WBO super welterweight champion – but not everyone was impressed, it seems.
The undisputed king of the 154-pound division, Jermell Charlo, has given his honest thoughts on Tszyu's performance.
Upon seeing the fight, Charlo has claimed that the Aussie "can't take my punch".
Tim, son of boxing royalty Kostya Tszyu, followed his legendary father's footsteps and won his first world title.
The hometown hero dominated the fight, finishing Harrison in the ninth round courtesy of some deadly uppercuts.
Advert
Tszyu will now face Charlo in what promises to be a mouth-watering clash, although the American only sees their clash going one way.
“He was impressive. He did what he had to do at home,” Charlo said of Tszyu's performance on Showtime.
“He was a little flat to me but my movement, my style and my power will make him do completely different things. When I get my [left] hand right and get back into the ring for training, put that tape in. That will work.”
He added: “This is exactly what we had seen
“He comes forward but is not as fast. He’s strong, of course, but aren’t we all? I’m a different animal in there than Tony.
“I’m a different fighter than Tony. You can’t compare me and try to compare Tony’s skills in boxing. He didn’t dog it out. He didn’t bring that dog in him.
“If he wanted to fight me, he’d have to bring more dog in him. But Tim is next and that’s who we had before the injury so it’s not like I’m not prepared already.”
Tszyu was initially meant to fight Charlo in a mandatory bout before the American sustained an injury.
Wanting to remain active, Tszyu decided to take the match-up with Harrison – leaving the ring with a belt wrapped round his waist.
But with an undisputed title defence now looming, Charlo has given a damning assessment on his Australian counterpart's ability.
“He doesn’t really show a lot of athleticism to me,” Charlo said, per New York Post’s Jared Schwartz.
“When you’ve got skills, and you’ve got styles and you’ve got power all together, you get four belts. He’s going to be a tough fight because he’s coming forward, but I think he’s perfect for my style.
“I know he can’t take my punch, because I just know my punch is different... It just made me want to fight, just get this over with, shut him up, I’ve shut a lot of them up, it’s just another one.
“He’s going to do the same thing. He’s not going to change much.”
Max Sherry