WBC junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu 23-0 (17) will be hoping for a better start against Brian ‘La Bala’ Mendoza 22-2 (16) than he had against Terrell Gausha 24-3-1 (12).
In his US debut in March last year, Tszyu found himself on the canvas in the opening round for the second time in his career. It was a flash knockdown, but it still wasn’t the way he wanted to introduce himself to American fight fans.
The 28-year-old Sydneysider quickly regained control of the bout and went on to win a clear-cut 12-round unanimous decision.
Fast forward 18 months and Tszyu is on the verge of the biggest fight of his career when he will take on American giant slayer Mendoza, 29, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia on Sunday afternoon local time.
Tszyu will not want to make the same mistake against Mendoza as he did against Gausha.
Mendoza is riding high on a string of three knockouts, including victories over former unified 154-pound champion Jeison Rosario 23-4-1 (17) and top contender Sebastian Fundora 20-1-1 (13) in his past two bouts.
He will be looking to make Tszyu number four.
“I was cold at the time. I didn’t get a good warm-up. Everything was a bit different,” Tszyu said to Hello Sport.
“It was a weird feeling because I remember as soon as I dropped, I was like, ‘what the fuck happened?’ It was just like a little flash. I was not hurt; everything was good. I’ve never been hurt.
“As soon as I got up, I was like, ‘This is round one and I’m behind. I’m all the way in America, a long way from home. I need to get my shit together. Now it’s on.’
“It was a little wake-up call that I needed, which sort of worked in my favour because afterward I just went all out.
“It was like a switch. I needed to turn that switch on before the fight. Not in round one, but before the fight. When I went to the Tony Harrison fight, I was switched on from the dressing room. I could feel it. I could feel the energy.
“I can figure someone out in the first round and I can sort of see how which way it’s going to go and what I’m going to do and how I’m going to do it methodically.”
The first round is more important for Tszyu than most as he says he doesn’t really study his opponents before stepping into the ring against them.
“I don’t really watch my opponents,” he revealed. “I’ve watched a few fights, but I don’t sit there studying. I feel like once you get in the ring, and if you got a certain plan and that plan doesn’t go ahead, you sort of panic. You have to be able to learn on the go.
“For me, it’s not what they bring, but it’s what I’m going to bring to them that they have to watch out for.”
