TSZYU’S
VICTORY SHOWS AUSSIE ROOTS DEEP
by Jack Welsh
Australia is legendary in lionizing its’ high achievers
trom all walks of life and the latest in this prestigious category
surfaced the other night in Melbourne with the return of Kostya
Tszyu, the undisputed world super lightweight champion.
It was a special night for boxing in the Land Down Under
with more than 30,000 partisans jamming Telstra Dome as Tszyu returned
to the city where he turned pro Mar.1,1992 with a one-round kayo.
For the 33-year-old Tszyu it was a homecoming he truly
enjoyed as an adopted Aussie, having settled in Sydney with his
family after defecting from the industrial city of Servo, Russia
where he built a spectacular amateur career.
Despite an eight months layoff, the bilingual Tszyu gave
the cheering audience exactly what it wanted when he wore down rock-ribbed
Jesse James Leija, himself a former champion from Ft.Worth, Tx.,
at the end of the sixth round in a pairing scheduled for12 with
Showtime televising. Both fighters weighed 139 pounds.
In the pre-fight hype, Leija said he would not have made
the 10,000 mile jet ride from the Lone Star State if he “didn’t
think I’d have a chance to win.”
Although a 6-1 underdog, Leija took advantage of the
typical slow-starting Tszyu with combinations and a looping right
hand in the first two rounds.
Leija, an ex-WBC super featherweight king, was pressing
and dipping against the deliberate Tszyu while backing him into
the ropes early in the third round with combinations. The patient
warrior from Sydney was now winging with overhand rights against
a tough adversary (who would not go away) while dictating the fight’s
tempo late in the fourth round.
Leija was still in the hunt, but it was a Tszyu left
hook that øpened a cut over his right eye in the fifth round.
The tough Texan did score with a left hook early in the sixth round
but it was the incumbent champion moving his man with stinging combinations
to the head and body.
The crowd was disappointed when referee Malcom Bulner
halted the action, declaring Leija could not continue into the seventh
round, reportedly suffering a fractured right eardrum.
In the judges’ official scoring, Stanley Christodøulou
saw it 59-55 while Aneeka Wiliams’ tab was 60-54 and Noppharat
Snchareon had it 58-56, all forthe champion.
Leija, whose record begrudingly dipped to 43-6-2,1 NC,17
KOs, told the media he was “pretty
sure the ear was busted.”
“I am not a doctor but I have had them before.
I think it happened in the fourth or fifth røund, I’m
not sure but I know i was not too sure of my footing. My father,
Jesse, made the decision to stop it. My father is a former fighter
and I trust him because I know he’s not going to let me get
hurt,” Leija reflected.
“Kostya Tszyu is a great fighter, but he really
never hurt me. His defense is very good and he is really very quick.I
felt I was doing pretty well in the first four or five rounds. I
was happy with my performance, I think I showed I am still capable
of hanging in with the top fighters of the world.”
It was indeed a special night for the one-time Russian soldier as
he improved his credentials to 30-1-1, 24 KOs It was also the birthday
of eight-year-old Timophey, one of three sons, who was also in the
ring helping Boris Tszyu, his grandfather, carry the WBC, WBA and
IBF championship belts.
“I dedicated this fight with my wife, Natasha,
to Timophey for several reasons. I had not fought in Melbøurne
for five years and it was 11 years since that night I turned pro
here. I was on the undercard when Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson,
two great champions, fought at Princes Park,” a happy Tszyu
recalled.
“I don’t know if this my last fight here
in Australia, but this was my son’s birthday and this is really
a good present for him. It’s really good for me to fight in
front in front of my people, who deserve this opportunity to be
with me. Wherever I fight, Australia will always be our home.”
Many of Tszyu’s hard-nosed loyalists expected an
early knockout but he did not agree in the media build up to the
first bell.
“I expected exactly the kind of fight we had and the people
who did all that talking about a knockout were wrong. I didn’t
have tø study the tapes on Leija because I had seen him fight
and knew how tough he was. It was the public down here who put all
the pressure on me,” said the Aussie’s conquering hero.
Tszyu is one of boxings three undisputed champions along
with lighteavyweight Roy Jones, Jr., and middleweight Bernard Hopkins
but he will take a little rest before reviewing his next opponent
with manager/ adviser Vlad Warton.
Mandatory-wise, next up is the WBC and the deepest division
in boxing with talent stumbling over each other trying to get a
crack at Tszyu. Right now Jose Sulaiman, WBC’s president for
life, has undefeated
Gianfrancø Branco of Italy as the No.1 contender. This could
be a problem if Sulaiman enforces the mandatory edict ---defend
or be stripped of the title.
Tszyu and his connections would like to have a mega fight
come summer but it can’t happen with Branco. On this side
of the Atlantic, the punching piasan is virtually unknown in a 140-pound
mix that includes instant box office like Arturo Gatti and Mickey
Ward, ex-champs Sharmba Mitchell and Zab Judah, who
Kostya tabs “boring”, and maybes like Vivian Harris,
DeMarcus Corley and Ricky Hatton.
Gatti, unless he faces Ward in a rubber match, looks
like a lock if his people aren’t unreasonable about money.Tszyu
is a fair man but as a triple world champion, he would want the
lion’s share of a lion’s share and that demand would
come despite Gatti’s box office charisma, especially in New
York
Tszyu has a yen for Las Vegas and it has nothing tø
dø with gaming. The Thunder From Down
Under had limited English on his first invasion of Vegas when he
TKO’d Jake Rodriguez in the sixth round
to win the IBFjunior welterweight crown Jan.28,1995 at the MGM Grand
Garden. It was the victor’s 14th pro bout
It’s five fights later in the Valley of The Dollars.
Now Kostya likes to sign autographs and talk with vacationing Yankees.
Besides his natural skills, the champ is a refreshing encounter
for the public. He does not talk trash in a sport where vulgarity
seems to be part of its’ legacy.
If anything, Kostya Tszyu, pleased with his life, sounds
like a statesman on the rise.
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