Undefeated junior middleweight contender Tim ‘Strictly Business’ Tszyu 17-0 (13) has warned two-time world title challenger Dennis ‘Hurricane’ Hogan 28-3-1 (7) he is out to take his soul when they meet at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Newcastle, Australia on March 31.
“I see another confident opponent who isn’t underestimating me but who doesn’t know what they’re running into,” the 26-year-old Sydneysider said.
“That’s the best thing about boxing. Once you get in the ring, everything from before, everything after that, everything shuts away and it’s just you and your opponent in that particular moment.
“You’re able to suck the soul out of them and everything they’ve ever believed. And again, that’s my goal. To take their soul and their belief and everything they’ve ever worked for and think they would’ve had in that particular moment. It’s not just a W, it’s taking everything away.”
Tszyu is one of the few fighters who was largely unaffected by the global coronavirus pandemic that put a hold on many boxers’ careers last year. He managed two stadium fights in 2020, putting away former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn 20-3-1 (13) in eight rounds in Townsville in August and scoring a highlight-reel first-round knockout of world-rated Kiwi Bowyn Morgan 21-2 (11) in the Sydney suburb of Paramatta in December.
“It’s nothing personal, but these boys are trying to take away everything I’ve ever worked for,” Tszyu said. “They are trying to take away everything I’m going for. I’m coming in for one purpose. It’s not just to win but to stop my opponent and get rid of him. Again, nothing personal but I want this more than anything.”
Hogan, 35, was scheduled to face Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams 27-2-1 (16) in December but the bout was cancelled at the former WBA and IBF world champion tested positive for Covid-19.
The Brisbane-based Irishman has pursued the fight with domestic rival Tszyu instead to determine the number one 154-pound fighter in Australia.
“As a fight progresses there’s many, many ways to change things up,” Hogan said. “What I see a lot of the time in power punchers – and I think Tim would fall into that category – is that a lot of the time they rely on their power and they don’t nurture all the other skills that need to be nurtured.”
The bout will be the first time Tszyu has fought in Newcastle but the family name is well-known in the Steel City. His famous father Kostya Tszyu compete there seven times in the 1990s, including successful world title defences against Roger Mayweather and Jan Piet Bergman.
“We have had history here and it’s only been positive,” Tszyu said. “I was only a little young kid when dad was fighting here in Newcastle. It’s good to be back here, to be fighting on my own card, to be fighting in the biggest fight of my life and to be doing it in front of Newcastle.”
After just four years in the pro ranks Tszyu is already highly rated with the WBO ranking him their number one contender at 154-pounds.
Victory over Hogan will all but assure Tszyu of a shot at newly-crowned WBO champion Brian Castano 17-0-1 (12) of Argentina who dominated and dethroned Brazilian southpaw Patrick Teixeira 31-2 (22) on points in Indio, California on the weekend.
But the experienced traveller Hogan – whose three losses have come on the road against Jack Culcay in Germany, Jaime Munguia in Mexico and Jermall Charlo in the United States – isn’t prepared to let that happen.
“For those world title fights I’ve always been the B-side far away from home,” Hogan said. “I do consider Australia my home and even though I’m the B-side, I certainly believe I’ll get a get crack of the whip here.
“I don’t have to travel all around the world, diminish my energy levels and I’ll be in training camp in Brisbane with my whole crew right up until a few days beforehand. Everything is cracking up to be my best performance by far and I am going to deliver.”
