Brian Mendoza realizes that the odds are stacked against him again, and not just according to DraftKings, FanDuel and all of the other online sportsbooks.
The Albuquerque native has traveled halfway around the world to challenge Tim Tszyu for the Australian star’s WBO junior middleweight title Sunday afternoon. Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs), who resides and trains in Las Vegas, will fight outside of the United States for the first time in nine years as a pro and will face an ascending, improving, undefeated fighter who has already recorded two impressive knockouts over the past seven months.
Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs), who was born and raised in Sydney, has also become a bona fide box office attraction in his home country, where their 12-round, 154-pound championship clash will take place. Australia’s Adam Height, Hungary’s Zoltan Enyedi and Japan’s Katsuhiko Nakamura have been assigned to judge their main event at Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Australia.
The challenging combination of aforementioned factors have made Mendoza’s mission clear.
“I definitely know I’m in enemy territory and, you know, once again up against the odds, big underdog and all that,” Mendoza told BoxingScene.com. “But it doesn’t matter, man. We’re going in there for either a very dominant win or a knockout win. I’m not gonna, you know, leave a close fight for the judges to swing one way or the other. I’m looking for a very clear victory, whether it’s a dominant decision, to the point where the judges can’t do anything like that, or the knockout. I plan to make this very clear, just like I did in the last few fights.”
Mendoza, 29, has knocked out former 154-pound champions Jeison Rosario and Sebastian Fundora in his last two fights. His vicious seventh-round knockout of the previously undefeated Fundora in his most recent bout helped him secure a shot at Tszyu’s title.
Mendoza trailed Fundora on all three scorecards – 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55 – when he drilled Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) with a left hook that hurt him badly. A right-left combination Mendoza subsequently landed before Fundora fell finished off the 6-foot-6 southpaw early in the seventh round April 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Tszyu produced his own highlight-reel knockout two months later, when he overwhelmed Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo (35-3, 23 KOs) in the first round June 18 at Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. The 28-year-old Tszyu dismantled Detroit’s Tony Harrison (29-4-1, 21 KOs), a former WBC super welterweight champion, and won by ninth-round technical knockout in his previous fight March 12 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
“He’s getting better at what he does,” Mendoza said. “You know, certain strengths or whatever, he’s been developing those. I’m more worried about what I bring to the table. I do see, you know, he’s a strong pressure fighter. He’s strong and everything, but I just feel like I personally bring something to the table that he hasn’t seen before. And that’s what’s gonna get me the victory.”
The WBO elevated Tszyu from interim junior middleweight champion to full champion September 30, when it stripped former fully unified 154-pound champ Jermell Charlo on the night he challenged Canelo Alvarez for his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Tszyu is listed as more than a 6-1 favorite to beat Mendoza by DraftKings.
Showtime will televise Tszyu-Mendoza as the main event of a doubleheader that will air live Saturday night in the United States (10:30 p.m. EDT; 7:30 p.m. PDT). Tszyu-Mendoza will headline a Main Event on Kayo Sports pay-per-view show scheduled to start at 12 p.m. AEST on Sunday in Australia ($59.95).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.