Undefeated Australian Tim Tszyu yesterday scored a unanimous points decision over tenacious American Brian Mendoza to defend his WBO super welterweight title, then taunted Jermell Charlo to “come and get it.”
The 28-year-old, son of renowned former world champion Kostya Tszyu, was brilliant and brutal in the 12-round battle on Australia’s Gold Coast that left Mendoza bloodied, but somehow still standing.
All three judges scored the bout in his favor, 116-111, 116-112 and 117-111.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“He’s world-class for a reason,” Tszyu said of the Las Vegas-based Mendoza, who earned his right to face Tszyu with crushing upset knockout wins over Jeison Rosario and the highly touted Sebastian Fundora. “But he’s second best.”
The victory improved the Australian to 24-0-0, with 17 knockouts, and cemented his status as the No. 1 challenger to big-talking American Charlo, who holds the other three major sanctioning body world crowns — WBA, WBC, and IBF — in the 154-pound (70kg) division.
Tszyu won the WBO interim title when he stopped American Tony Harrison in March and defended it with a spectacular first-round demolition of Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo in June to position himself as the mandatory challenger to Charlo.
However, instead of facing Tszyu as he was supposed to, Charlo opted to move up two weight classes to super middleweight and take on Canelo Alvarez in a more lucrative bout last month.
Charlo not only lost, but was stripped of his WBO belt, with Tszyu elevated from interim titlist to full champion.
“Charlo, where are you?” Tszyu said mockingly in the ring, tapping the belt he took from him. “He’ll probably think in his delusional head that he would beat me.”
“Come get it. Let’s prove to everyone who is king of this division,” he added.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS