Australia has a new young boxing star.
Tim Tszyu, the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, dominated former welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn from beginning to end, put him down twice and stopped him after eight rounds of a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight bout Wednesday in Townsville, Queensland.
Tszyu (16-0, 12 KOs) was better than Horn (20-3-1, 13 KOs) in every respect, outboxing him and also outslugging a veteran opponent known for his toughness.
The 25-year-old Sydney native landed precise, hard punches throughout – hurting Horn multiple times — and handled everything Horn delivered in return, including his rough tactics.
Horn, beaten up and with no hope of winning, stayed on his stool after the eighth round.
Tszyu, ranked in the Top 15 of three of the four major sanctioning bodies, is now in better position to challenge for a world title. Kostya Tszyu won four junior welterweight belts.
Horn is now 2-3 in his last five fights, with losses to Terence Crawford (which cost him the title he took from Manny Pacquiao), Michael Zerafa and now Tszyu.