Tim Tszyu is heavily favored to beat Brian Mendoza on Sunday afternoon in their fight for Tszyu’s WBO junior middleweight title.
The surging Australian still considers his hard-hitting American challenger the most imposing opponent he has agreed to fight since Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) made his pro debut in December 2016. Tony Harrison is the most accomplished opponent Tszyu has fought thus far, but Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) upset previously unbeaten Sebastian Fundora by seventh-round knockout in his last fight and knocked out former IBF/IBO/WBA 154-pound champ Jeison Rosario in the fifth round of his bout before he defeated Fundora.
“It’s a tough challenge,” Tszyu told BoxingScene.com. “He’s coming off two big wins, two big knockouts. He’s got a bit of momentum and confidence, so that always presents a touch challenge. And he’s got that underdog mentality, so I’m looking forward to a challenge like that. … I think this is [my] toughest challenge to date. I think his heart – if you’re ripping into him, he ain’t gonna quit. He’s built something of a warrior courage. That’s always tough.”
Oddsmakers have nevertheless installed Tszyu as at least a 6-1 favorite to defeat Mendoza in a 12-round main event Showtime will televise live Saturday night in the United States from Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Australia. Showtime’s two-bout broadcast will begin at 10:30 p.m. EDT with a 12-round bout between Australian junior featherweight contender Sam Goodman (15-0, 7 KOs) and Miguel Flores (25-4-1, 12 KOs), of Spring, Texas.
Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs), a 6-foot-6 southpaw from Coachella, California, closed as a 9-1 favorite over Mendonza, but Tszyu wasn’t surprised when Albuquerque’s Mendoza came back and pulled off an upset April 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
“He’s got the power,” Tszyu said. “He’s got the IQ. Fundora is always a tough challenge for everyone because of his height and his awkwardness. [It was] just a perfectly timed left hook, but the mistake was made by Fundora. He threw a sloppy uppercut and he was wide open. It was a simple, textbook left hook counter from a left uppercut. That’s all it takes, just one punch, a perfect piece of timing and a mistake from your opponent.”
Mendoza trailed on all three scorecards – 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55 – when he caught Fundora with a left hook in an exchange early in the seventh round. Another right-left combination by Mendoza before Fundora fell ensured that the former WBC interim super welterweight champion couldn’t get up in time to beat referee Ray Corona’s count.
“It’s sorta like a ‘Rocky’ story,” Tszyu said of Mendoza. “He’s got that drive in him. Again, it’s a tough challenge because when you’re training you’re thinking he’s training that hard, so you’ve gotta push that extra bit as well.”
Tszyu thus anticipates a more difficult fight from Mendoza than Harrison gave him March 12 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Tszyu led Detroit’s Harrison (29-4-1, 21 KOs) by the same score, 77-75, according to all three judges before he dropped and stopped the former WBC super welterweight champ in the ninth round of their fight for the WBO interim 154-pound crown.
“I actually did find it quite an easy fight,” Tszyu said of his victory over Harrison. “I wasn’t tired much at all. It wasn’t a hard, dirty fight at all. It was just, yeah, I made things quite simple, you know, and used my physique and power to be able to overwhelm him and sorta take him out.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.