Junior middleweight contender Terrell Gausha 22-2-1 (11) has been developing his game ahead of his clash against Tim Tszyu 20-0 (15) at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 26.
The 34-year-old 2012 Olympian from Cleveland promises to present the toughest test of Tszyu’s five year pro career.
“We’ve been working on some different things for this fight,” said Gausha. “We’re going to give Tim Tszyu a different look than he’s seen before. Compared to most of the fights that everyone has seen, they’re going to see something new from me on March 26.”
Australian Tszyu, 27, the eldest son of International Boxing Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, will be making his much-anticipated US debut against Gausha after cleaning out the 154-pound division in his homeland. Some of his more notable victory have come against former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn and former world title challengers Dennis Hogan and Takeshi Inoue.
With his famous surname and undefeated record, Tszyu is clearly the A-side in this match-up. But Gausha says that the timing is right for him to score the upset.
“I’m just motivated period,” said Gausha. “It’s got nothing to do with any hype around Tszyu. It has everything to do with where I’m at in my life and my career. Things are happening at the right time for me. I’m in a good place. This is the perfect fight for me at this point in my career.
“I appreciate him for taking this challenge. Most other fighters would try to protect their record. This shows that he believes in himself. He wants the tough fights. That being said, I think he took the wrong fight.”
Gausha scored an impressive knockout over young contender Jamontay Clark in his last fight, stopping his opponent in round two in March 2021, and will look to build on that triumph against a bigger name in Tszyu.
“That was a good fight for me against Clark,” said Gausha. “I wanted to get right back in the ring, but sometimes it’s hard to make fights with certain guys. I have a great opportunity against Tszyu and I’m looking to capitalize and build off of my last performance. I’m going to make an even bigger splash in this fight.
“I expect Tim to try to bring pressure and come forward. He’s a one-trick pony. What you see is what you get. He doesn’t do too many things spectacularly, but what he does do well, he does it very well, and that’s bring the pressure. We have something ready for that and we’re going to do our thing no matter what he tries to do.
“After everyone sees this performance on March 26, they’re going to know where I fit into this division.
“I’ve got a job to do. Right now, I’m really just starting to show people my skills and what I can do. This is going to solidify that. I’m knocking on the door of a title fight right now. A win over Tszyu would be great for my career and get me to the world titles.”
