Tim Tszyu was in an understandable state of shock after a “pit bull-type” dog lunged at him and bit Tszyu’s right arm at a friend’s barbeque May 27 in Australia.
The first thing Tszyu thought was that his injury would force the postponement of his fight Sunday against Carlos Ocampo. The WBO interim junior middleweight champion underwent immediate surgery and needed 25 stitches to close what was considered a superficial wound on his right forearm.
“At the time, when it first happened, I was in a bit of shock,” Tszyu told BoxingScene.com. “I was like, ‘What in the f—? Can this stop the fight?’ But as soon as I got it operated on and I saw it, I was like, ‘You know what? I feel much better. It’s good.’ And then I went to the surgeon the next day after [surgery] and he said this is sweet. And as soon as I heard that, I said, ‘This is good.’ It was not a problem.”
Tszyu, 28, returned to training just two days after the incident. The son of legendary former junior welterweight champ Kostya Tszyu insists “everything’s sweet” as his 12-round fight with Ocampo approaches.
“It sort of happened real quick,” Tszyu recalled. “It was on a Saturday. The dog just sort of jumped on me. It was my friend’s dog. So, I just pulled back and he got me on the right arm. I went into surgery. They stitched it up and got it cleaned out. And then, yeah, on Sunday I was in bed basically. And then Monday I was back into training, so it was all good.”
Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) will make his first defense of the WBO interim 154-pound championship versus Mexico’s Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) on Sunday at Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Australia.
Showtime will televise Tszyu-Ocampo as the main event of a two-bout broadcast that’ll air live Saturday night in prime time in the United States (11:30 p.m. EDT; 8:30 p.m. PDT). Showtime’s coverage will begin with a 12-round IBF 122-pound elimination match in which Ra’eese Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs), of Muskegon, Michigan, will square off against Australia’s Sam Goodman (14-0, 7 KOs).
Foxtel and Kayo will offer the Tszyu-Ocampo show on pay-per-view Sunday afternoon in Australia ($59.99; 12 p.m. AEST).
If Tszyu wins, he’ll remain in position to challenge undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo next. Tszyu said he has been told the Charlo fight, which was postponed late in December due to Charlo’s broken hand, could be rescheduled for an undetermined date in October.
After what happened just three weeks before he was scheduled to oppose Ocampo, Tszyu is thankful that he can fight at all.
“I dodged a bullet, though, you know?,” Tszyu said. “It could’ve been much worse. I’m lucky that it was just superficial. It could’ve put me on the sideline for the rest of my career. Who knows with those dogs?”
Tszyu will make the first defense of an interim title he won when he stopped former WBC champ Tony Harrison in the ninth round March 11 at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Tszyu’s hometown. An aggressive Tszyu dropped Detroit’s Harrison (29-4-1, 21 KOs) in the ninth round and recorded the most noteworthy win of his six-year pro career at 2:43 of that round.
Tszyu will fight for the second time in just three months against Ocampo. Most sportsbooks have installed Tszyu as at least an 8-1 favorite to beat Ocampo, who has lost only to undefeated, unified welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) and former WBC interim super welterweight champ Sebastian Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.