Australian superstar and former world champion Tim Tszyu returned to the ring in style with a fourth-round TKO over Joey Spencer.
After losing a pair of title fights in 2024, Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs) gave his home fans in Australia what they were looking for and scored a big victory to put himself back into contention for a second world title run in the star-studded 154-pound division.
“We took over the town and put on a show,” said Tszyu. “To have this type of stage, it’s one hell of a ride. There was no pressure…well there was a bit of pressure. I couldn’t take another loss. I hope I taught people that if you go on the floor, you can always get back up and rise to the top.”
Tszyu came into the fight measured and largely held back his punches in the first two rounds, choosing instead to stalk Spencer (19-2, 11 KOs) around the ring and measure his distance. In round three, Tszyu turned up the heat and began to score with lead left hooks as Spencer was too often caught stuck in the line of fire.
“I learned from my mistakes,” said Tszyu. “You don’t go in like a hothead in the first round and abandon everything. I had a hell of an opponent in there and I was blessed to share the ring with him.”
In round four, Tszyu quickly began to do damage, badly bruising Spencer’s right eye, which immediately began to swell. From there, the onslaught was on, Tszyu unloaded with huge combos, while Spencer was only able to return fire with one or two shots at a time.
Tszyu landed a brutal 41 power punches in the decisive fourth round according to CompuBox, eventually forcing Spencer’s corner to throw in the towel, ending the fight 2:18 into the round.
“The critics are always going to be there, but I had to prove it to myself,” said Tszyu. “I proved it to everyone in the world. I’m back baby, I’m back.”
After the fight, Tszyu welcomed a potential Australian blockbuster against former unified world champion Keith “One Time” Thurman, who recently returned to the ring in the land down under, knocking out Aussie Brock Jarvis in March.
“Sign the contract big boy,” said Tszyu. “If the fans want it, we can bring a mega-show to Australia. He knows who to contact.”
No Limit Boxing