Tim Tszyu has made a massive statement but the man on the other side of the ring has won the respect of plenty of Aussie fans.
Tim Tszyu is heading to a world title fight after making a statement against Japanese star Takeshi Inoue, despite not being able to get him out of the ring.
Tszyu claimed a unanimous win, losing just one round on one of the judges cards in a dominant 120-107×2, 119-108 victory.
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He rained down massive uppercuts, brutal body shots and savage hooks around his guard and he wasn’t able to knock Inoue down until the 12th round — and even that was contentious because of the slippery advertising in the middle of the ring.
It was a remarkable performance from both men as Tszyu was at his brutal best, while Inoue just never went down.
“He’s done himself proud, he’s an outstanding fighter and he’s very tough,” Ben Damon said during the 12th round.
He added that Inoue “showed otherworldly toughness”.
Commentator Paul Kent said that Inoue was “something else”, while Barry Michael said Inoue has a “granite chin”.
But the best comments were from Tszyu himself, who couldn’t believe that he couldn’t get Inoue out of the ring.
“It was a great experience. The guy’s built like a brick wall,” Tsyzu said in the ring after the fight. “F***ing hit him with anything and he doesn’t go down.
“I don’t think any of the heavyweights can drop him. He’s a brick wall, literally. Hands up to him man, that’s a warrior.”
While it was Inoue’s second professional loss in his 20th fight, the 31-year-old was battered from the opening round.
“In all honesty, I heard him squeal like 20 times and he still wouldn’t go down,” Tszyu continued. “His face, it’s completely battered, his body, I’m sure he’s going to be sore tomorrow but man, what a warrior. F***.”
But when asked about how much he felt Inoue’s power, Tszyu, who was reasonably unscathed, brushed it off.
“I didn’t feel s***,” he said. “I was just having a good time in all honesty.”
Tszyu is the mandatory challenger for Brian Castano’s WBO title and has long called out the men ahead of him.
But he did say Inoue’s toughness gave him a reality check of what he needed to bring to match it with the best in the world.
“Honestly I think that was the best thing that could have happened, getting a good 12 rounds in before I hit big time,” Tszyu said. “I’ll be back in the gym, I gotta be well more prepared than that because I need to take these guys out and I need to keep taking them all out one by one. The grind continues.”
Australia still couldn’t get enough of Inoue either, raving about the star’s incredible durability in the face of Tszyu’s onslaught.
Michael added later that the result may have been the best thing for Tszyu.
“You can’t knock everybody out, he’s just proved that,” he said. “He’s going to fight tough opponents Tim and this was a great learning curve for Tim Tszyu I believe. 12 hard rounds against a world-class tough opponent. I think it was great.”
Originally published as ‘Made of granite’: Takeshi Inoue blows Australia away after Tim Tszyu onslaught
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