Tim Tszyu sent a message to world by TKO'ing Tony Harrison to become the interim WBO super welterweight champion ā but not everyone was impressed, it seems.
The undisputed king of the 154-pound division, Jermell Charlo, has given his honest thoughts on Tszyu's performance.
Upon seeing the fight, Charlo has claimed that the Aussie "can't take my punch".
Tim, son of boxing royalty Kostya Tszyu, followed his legendary father's footsteps and won his first world title.
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The hometown hero dominated the fight, finishing Harrison in the ninth round courtesy of some deadly uppercuts.
Tszyu will now face Charlo in what promises to be a mouth-watering clash, although the American only sees their clash going one way.
āHe was impressive. He did what he had to do at home,ā Charlo said of Tszyu's performance on Showtime.
āHe was a little flat to me but my movement, my style and my power will make him do completely different things. When I get my [left] hand right and get back into the ring for training, put that tape in. That will work.ā
He added: āThis is exactly what we had seen
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āHe comes forward but is not as fast. Heās strong, of course, but arenāt we all? Iām a different animal in there than Tony.
āIām a different fighter than Tony. You canāt compare me and try to compare Tonyās skills in boxing. He didnāt dog it out. He didnāt bring that dog in him.
āIf he wanted to fight me, heād have to bring more dog in him. But Tim is next and thatās who we had before the injury so itās not like Iām not prepared already.ā
Tszyu was initially meant to fight Charlo in a mandatory bout before the American sustained an injury.
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Wanting to remain active, Tszyu decided to take the match-up with Harrison ā leaving the ring with a belt wrapped round his waist.
But with an undisputed title defence now looming, Charlo has given a damning assessment on his Australian counterpart's ability.
āHe doesnāt really show a lot of athleticism to me,ā Charlo said, per New York Postās Jared Schwartz.
āWhen youāve got skills, and youāve got styles and youāve got power all together, you get four belts. Heās going to be a tough fight because heās coming forward, but I think heās perfect for my style.
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āI know he canāt take my punch, because I just know my punch is different... It just made me want to fight, just get this over with, shut him up, Iāve shut a lot of them up, itās just another one.
āHeās going to do the same thing. Heās not going to change much.ā