Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tszyu - August 26, 2020

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Will be a 10-rounder.

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Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tsyzu at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, April 22

The location is now secured. It has been announced that Townsville has secured the right to stage the super welterweight showdown between Australian boxers Jeff Horn and Tim Tsyzu.

The ten round bout will take place on April 22, with the promoters expecting a packed venue at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

The stadium is home to rugby league's North Queensland Cowboys and can hold 25,000 people. Several other venues and locations were bidding strong to secure the contest.

The contest will match the experience of Horn, a former WBO welterweight champion, against Tszyu, and undefeated, rising junior middleweight star - who is also the son of Hall of Famer and former world champion Kostya Tszyu.

Both fighters are entering the fight on the back of strong wins.

Horn (20-2-1) avenged his TKO defeat at the hands of Michael Zerafa with a hard-fought decision win in in December, and Tszyu (15-0) was in action two weeks earlier and beat down Jack Brubaker for a four round stoppage win.

Both boxers had to back away from some of their demands to make the fight happen. Horn agreed to drop his demand for a rematch clause, and Tsyzu backed away from his demand to have the contest take place over the twelve round distance.

Tszyu, 25-years-old, believes the fight is coming at the right time.

"I'm a warrior," Tszyu said. "We're boxers, we have to be ready for a war. You have got to give everything. You've got to be ready to die in the ring. I don't want to give predictions, but I'm coming to fight, I'm coming to win."

Horn, 32-years-old, admits his career could be riding on this fight.

"He'll be fighting out of his skin and so will I, so it's going to be a cracking fight," Horn said.

"I've got the experience in there to take away Tim's tools and to get this victory. I don't know how that's going to happen, whether it's going to be a stoppage or not. We're always looking for a knockout, but a points victory is a victory."

[Uppercut1]

Tszyu by close UD, or maybe an MD.

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Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tsyzu is Still on Course For April 22 Showdown

Contrary to misinformation being circulated, promoters have made it clear that Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tszyu has not been canceled.

The fight is still going forward for the scheduled date of April 22 in Townsville.

The promoters are hoping that the current crowd restriction regulations will have been relaxed by the April date. The regulations were put in place for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Dean Lonergan, promoter for Horn, says the situation will be monitored over the course of the next few weeks before they would make a decision to cancel or continue moving full stream ahead.

Lonergan, and Tszyu's promoter Matt Rose, are putting tickets on sale.

"We are still going on sale today for general admission tickets and have been on sale for corporate hospitality since Wednesday last week," Lonergan said to WA Today.

"The fight is six weeks away and the current climate with coronavirus may change before then Matt Rose [Tszyu promoter] and myself will review the situation daily, and if required to make adjustments to the current plan.

"Our view is with six weeks to go to the event, we believe the most prudent thing to do is to continue as planned and review the situation at regular intervals. If we need to change the date we will do so when more information is at hand. We are not like AFL or NRL, who have to make an immediate decision. We do have some time up our sleeve.

"Boxing promoters have to be nimble and flexible because fighters get injured all the time and have to pull out of fights or reschedule at short notice. We will make our plans now, but if we have to change them because the situation has changed then we can."

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THE FACTS

Where is Jeff Horn vs Tim Tszyu taking place? Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

When is Jeff Horn vs Tim Tszyu and what time does it start? Wednesday 22nd April, 2020 – 09:00 approx (UK)

What TV channel is Jeff Horn vs Tim Tszyu on? Foxtel

Where can I stream Jeff Horn vs Tim Tszyu? Viewers in Australia can stream the fight via the Main Event website

Where can I get tickets for Jeff Horn vs Tim Tszyu?
https://www.boxingpackages.com.au/event ... -packages/

[Uppercut1]

Postponed.

Guess any of us could have seen that coming.

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Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tsyzu Pushed Back, New Date Will Be Pursued

It's been officially announced that Australia's mega-bout, between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu, has been officially pushed back to a later date.

The fight was scheduled for April 22, but now it's been officially postponed due to the coronavirus.

Tickets went on sale on Monday for the Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, which takes place in just over a month.

Later in the day, the fight promoters decided to go in another direction.

In a joint statement from promoters Dean Lonergan and Matt Rose, they fully intend to stage the fight at some point in 2020.

"Give the tsunami of news in relation to Corona virus in the last 24 hours, promoter Matt Rose of No limit boxing and Dean Lonergan from D and L events have decided to postpone Townsville's rumble on the reef Horn vs. Tyszu event, set down for April 22 at Queensland's Country Bank Stadium. A new date will be announced as soon as it becomes clear when the event can proceed," the statement said.

Horn, a former WBO welterweight champion, is going to face Tszyu, an undefeated rising star, at the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds. The contest will take place over the ten round limit.

Both boxers had to walk away from certain demands to make the fight. Tszyu, the son of former champion and Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, dropped his demand for a twelve round fight. And Horn had to drop his demand for a rematch clause.

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Jeff Horn Admits Tszyu's Name Was Reason Enough To Take Fight

“I don't think [he'd be getting a fight like this without his name]. I wouldn’t have taken this fight if it wasn’t a Tszyu,” Horn told The Age.

Horn’s promoter, Dean Lonergan, says the 25-year-old Tszyu has never faced the same level of competition as Horn.

“The reality is Tim has fought a lot of Sydney-level club fighters as opposed to Jeff Horn,” Lonergan said.

“Tim’s going to start making money that he’s never had before. The media attention will be enormous, and when he gets in the ring people are going to go, ‘Oh this is Tim Tszyu getting in the ring, not Kostya Tszyu’, which Sydneysiders will do because they look alike.”

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Jeff Horn Motivated To Keep Weight in Check, Focused on Tszyu

Former world champion Jeff Horn was getting himself ready for a major confrontation next month.

Horn was scheduled to face undefeated rising star Tim Tszyu, in what was being billed as one of the biggest collisions in Australian boxing history, but their fight was pushed back when the coronavirus pandemic began to escalate.

Now Horn finds himself isolated at his Brisbane home with his wife and two daughters, waiting for his country to get back to normal.

Horn, a former schoolteacher, trying to keep his weight in check as he waits for his promoter to inform him of the new date for the fight with Tszyu.

The contest was originally scheduled for April 22 at the brand new Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.

“Food comes into the mind as an excitement at times like this when you have nothing else to do but I really need to try as hard as I cannot to think about that,” Horn told Main Event Boxing podcast’s host Ben Damon.

“I’m probably one of those people that’s really going to struggle at this point in time. If I put too much (weight) on it’s going to be absolute hell and I won’t be able to get ready in the time frame of eight weeks.

“(I’m) trying to support the businesses as well that might be going under from all this havoc that’s happening - if I can find healthy options on the outside at restaurants I’ll definitely be trying to do that.”

Because of the pandemic, it's derailed Horn's ability to stay in shape with head trainer Glenn Rushton.

“That’s a tough one. I was talking to Glenn about that today. I don’t have a bag at home and basically I’m not going to Glenn’s at the moment so none of that’s happening and the social distancing rule with the padwork - that shouldn’t be happening - so not much boxing has been happening and I don’t know how long until I do start.

“Once sport starts back up again, people are going to be dying to see something. Everyone will be glued to television screens watching sports or going to venues to watch sports that they haven’t been able to watch for a very long time. I’ve fought in front of big crowds like that and it does lift you to another level and Tim will experience that as well so I know I’m going to get the very, very best Tim Tszyu when I do fight him.”

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Both Sides Open To Doing Closed Doors Fight

Both sides of the ring, in the Australian mega-bout between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu, have interest in staging a fight behind closed doors - if a stadium event does not become an option in the next few months.

The fight was scheduled to take place in Townsville on April 22, but it was postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

At the moment, there is no concrete timeline on when large gatherings will be allowed - as coronavirus cases continue to grown worldwide.

Dean Lonergan, the promoter for Horn, is reportedly exploring the possibility of staging the event behind closed doors - in a bid to help raise morale in Australia.

Horn vs. Tszyu, scheduled as a ten round junior middleweight contest, was viewed as one of the biggest fights to be staged on Australian soil in several years.

While a huge venue would be ideal, another option is to secure a smaller location and stage the event with no crowd.

Tszyu's agent would be open to entertaining a closed doors idea, but there would likely have to be a rematch clause to match them for a second time with a live crowd involved.

"Potentially. We'll look at it anyway. At this stage there's not a lot to look at because it's really hard to put something on based on the current restrictions," Tszyu's agent Matt Rose said to the Canberra Times.

"But in the not-too-distant future when everything starts to get a little bit safer I think that may be an option if we can't do the stadium show.

"There's definitely an appeal there because we want to make sure Tim fights Jeff. We'd be keen to get it done."

[Enlightened-One]

Like the UK and the US, behind closed door bouts cannot happen until the coronavirus lockdown rules have been relaxed.

Whilst Australia hasn’t implemented measures quite as strict as the UK yet, their current rules would eliminate the possibility of behind closed-door bouts in the short-term.

Perhaps this will change in twelve weeks’ time or so, but at the moment, behind closed door bouts seem very unlikely to happen in most geographical locations.

It’s a shame, because a lot of fighters, managers and promoters will be adversely affected by the current COVID-19 situation. Most of those people will be desperate to earn some money to pay their bills and look after their families.

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Like the UK and the US, behind closed door bouts cannot happen until the coronavirus lockdown rules have been relaxed.

Whilst Australia hasn’t implemented measures quite as strict as the UK yet, their current rules would eliminate the possibility of behind closed-door bouts in the short-term.

They're a few weeks behind UK in terms of what has been done with the virus aren't they?

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Jeff Horn: Just Give Me Eight Weeks Notice For Tszyu, I'm Ready For Any Date

Former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn is prepared to face Australian rival Tim Tszyu on any possible date - as long as there is at least eight weeks notice to conduct a proper training camp.

"Training was going really well. I was on a good pace to get ready for the fight," Horn told Ben Damon on the Main Event Boxing Podcast.

"I'm really happy I've got (former North Queensland Cowboys forward) Chris Mucket on board, he knows all about where you should be sitting at what points and not overtaining.

"I'm very happy to have him on board. I feel like I was getting nice and strong, but now this little hiccup, I can't go to the gym. I'll have a little break, a little breather and see what becomes of it."

Horn usually needs around ten to twelve weeks to train for a fight, but he plans to keep himself in shape until a new date is presented - and then take eight weeks to get himself in fighting form.

"I've said to the promoter, Dean Lonergan, give me minimum eight weeks. I need eight weeks' notice," Horn said.

"Coming out of isolation and not doing much at all, I need eight weeks - and that's pushing it. That's the finest line. I'd love to have my normal 10 to 12, but I'll smash training as hard and fast as I can."

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Tszyu Rejects Idea of Horn Fight Behind Closed Doors, Rematch Clause

Australian junior middleweight star Tim Tszyu has thought it over, and he's made it known, that he's not interested in a closed doors showdown with country rival Jeff Horn.

Tszyu-Horn was originally scheduled to take place in Townsville on April 21. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the event was postponed until a date to be determined.

Horn’s promoter, Dean Lonergan, was exploring the idea of staging the fight in an empty venue for a pay-per-view event - with the included option of a rematch with a full venue - when large gatherings are permitted again in the venue.

However, Tszyu is not interested in that bout taking place without an audience - and he's also not interested in the idea of having a fight with a rematch clause involved.

He believes, due to the postponement, the fight will be even bigger once boxing gets back in the mix of things.

“For me, I prefer just one fight,” Tszyu said to WA Today. “We don’t need to fight twice, just one fight and that’s it.

“I would much prefer a stadium as much as everyone else. I have to train in a gym and have a proper preparation, at the level I’m at everything needs to be at 100 percent. The fight is the easy part, it’s the training where you need to figure it all out. It’s hard if you can’t prepare to your full potential.

“In this period of time, once we can get through it, we can get back to normal life. It’s not just boxing that’s affected, it’s every sport in general. We just have to get through this crisis. That’s the thing - once all of this is finished, it will be one of the biggest events that has ever been. That’s the best part about it.”

Since his gym is closed, per the current restrictions, Tszyu has been doing his best to stay in shape.

“I’ve put a bit of the gym into my garage, I’ve been doing as much as I can to get fit,” Tszyu said.

“You can’t do your training with your coach or sparring, that’s the hardest part. I’m keeping myself fit, that’s the main thing. It’s not like I’m sitting on the couch every day. This coronavirus isn’t just about sport, the whole world is struggling. We just have to wait until the whole world is through this.”

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Jeff Horn Prefers Large Crowd Over Closed Doors For Tszyu Bout

Promoter Dean Lonergan insists boxing would be the easiest sport to arrange behind closed doors, but Jeff Horn and the Tim Tsyzu camp aren't convinced that would be the appropriate setting for their superfight.

Former WBO welterweight champion Horn and undefeated junior middleweight contender Tszyu were scheduled to fight in Townsville on April 22

But the show became another victim of the coronavirus pandemic which has decimated the sporting schedule here and overseas.

The ever creative Lonergan, who is Horn's promoter, has floated the idea of fighting behind closed doors, possibly at the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre.

"I think out of all the sports around, boxing is the easiest to do it behind closed doors because you've got so few participants," Lonergan told AAP.

"I've had loose discussions with (Tszyu's promoter) Matt Rose about potentially doing this in Townsville behind closed doors.

"Matt and myself can have these conversations all we want but if the two fighters don't want to do it it ain't gonna happen."

Horn didn't rule out fighting behind closed doors, but would much prefer to fight in a full stadium.

"Anything is of consideration at these times because you don't know how long it's going to be until you actually fight again,"' Horn told AAP.

"You would definitely want to be fighting somewhat soon, it's just the question of how and where.

"I feel like it's just a sparring session if there's going to be just a room full of a couple of people and just the trainers.

'I'd much prefer fighting in front of a full crowd of people and that's where I think I fight my best. I think it lifts me to another level, hearing the people cheering, just the atmosphere.

'If there's none of that around then I guess your performance kind of gets hindered just that little bit."

Tszyu's manager Glen Jennings said he hadn't discussed the behind closed doors option with his charge.

"It's not something that we'd be all that interested in, only because a fight on that scale, it should be a mega event. It shouldn't be hidden behind doors," Jennings told AAP.

"It doesn't matter if it's behind closed doors or in front of a full house, unless you're ready for it, there's no point.

"Every day that goes by where these guys aren't in full fight preparation is a day that they've lost in terms of preparation, is a day further away from a fight.

"Eight weeks is a minimum. Twelve weeks would be ideal for these guys to get ready.

"Battle ready comes from sparring, all that close up stuff that no one is allowed to do."

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Jeff Horn: Pandemic Could Reduce Number of Fights I'll Do Before I Retire

Former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn fears that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic may cut back the final stage of his career, but he has no doubt Australian boxing's future on the world stage is bright.

Horn was scheduled to fight unbeaten, rising junior middleweight star Tim Tsyzu in Townsville on April 22, but the contest was postponed when the rate of COVID-19 infections began to escalate in the country

The promoters hope to reschedule the fight for later in the year, though neither boxer is overly interested in the idea of fighting each other behind closed doors in order to set an earlier date.

Aged 32 to Tszyu's 25, Horn is understandably keen to resume fighting as soon as possible.

"I always said I would kind of be finishing up at around the age of 35," Horn said.

"So if this kind of keeps going on and on and I'm not able to fight, this is going to reduce the amount of fights I'm going to be having before I retire."

Horn believes the local scene is in good hands, after watching the emergence of several other world-level Australian fighters, like the Moloney twins, Andrew and Jason, spearheading a new wave.

Super lightweight Liam Paro, cruiserweight Jai Opetaia, super bantamweight Brock Jarvis and super featherweight Liam Wilson are also rising in their respective divisions.

"They are all super-talented guys definitely looking like they've got the talent to become world champions one day," Horn said.

"They have just got to take a little bit of caution with what fights they take. But I truly believe the guys that we've got coming through now in the next wave are very promising for Australian boxing and I think we have some guys that can definitely match it with the best in the world."

While Horn has his fans, he also has a lot of critics - which he uses as motivation in his career.

"I actually don't mind people being like that towards me," Horn said.

"Obviously I've got people that support me as well, a lot that do. But those few people here and there, the handful of people that do say bad things about me and that I'm useless, they kind of motivate me as well to go 'OK, I'll prove you wrong and I will win this one as well.'"

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Arum Aims To Secure Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tszyu For ESPN

Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum is very interested in securing the United States broadcast rights for the junior middleweight clash between Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu.

Horn is well known to fans in the United States, for his 2017 shocker over Manny Pacquiao and his 2018 knockout loss to Terence Crawford.

Both of those bouts were secured for ESPN. And Arum hopes to bring Horn vs. Tszyu to the network as well.

Horn (20-2-1), a former WBO welterweight champion, will face his Australian rival in undefeated rising star Tszyu (15-0), who is the son of former champion and Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.

Their fight was originally scheduled to take place on April 22 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in North Ward, Townsville, QLD.

But once the coronavirus pandemic broke out, the event organizers were forced to push back the event.

Both boxers are very eager to fight, and were even willing to face each other without a crowd, but their respective teams would prefer to wait a few weeks to see if restrictions will ease up enough to allow them to have a limited number of fans at their cards.

Because of Horn's past fights in the country, and the past accomplishments of Tszyu's father, Arum believes the fight would be a hit with American fans.

“Horn is very popular here [in the United States], " Arum said to Fox Sports. “Everybody saw what he did with Manny Pacquiao in Brisbane and he developed a big following. US fans may not have seen much of Tim Tszyu just yet but they all know the name Tszyu, so they’ll be very interested.

“I’ll be talking with ESPN about that [Horn vs Tszyu broadcast] once we have a date, and I’d expect they will be very interested in that fight.”

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Arum said Horn is very popular in the US.

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Jeff Horn Team Member Jumps Ship To Rival Tim Tszyu

What some are calling a key development, there is now an interesting twist with a member of Jeff Horn's training team jumping ship to the camp of Australian rival Tim Tszyu.

According to 7 News, trainer Dundee Kim, who worked with Horn every week for the last six years, is now on board with Tszyu.

“How Jeff moves around, I just show him,” Kim said to the outlet. “No hard feelings with Jeff, I ended my chapter with him in January. I respect Jeff Horn so much, he beat Manny Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao’s my hero. If Jeff couldn’t finish Tim within six rounds, I think he might have trouble.”

Kim left Horn's camp in order to become a full-time trainer.

Tsyzu believes the hire of Kim has given him an additional advantage in the fight.

“Who knows him better than Dundee? He’s been with him nearly his whole career,” Tsyzu told 7 News.

“Whatever happened, that’s their past. Coming here and learning from Dundee, it’s a great insight.”

Horn and Tszyu are slated to collide in the first week of September, in a junior middleweight clash, with the winner being in line for a world title shot. The date was pushed back a few times due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“I feel like I’m an animal and I’m ready to eat,” Tszyu said.

The fight with Horn will be contested over a ten round distance and there will not be a rematch clause involved.

25-year-old Tszyu, the son of boxing legend Kostya Tszyu, has an undefeated record of 15-0.

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Something fishy going on here.

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Jeff Horn Admits He Felt Betrayed By Ex-Trainer Helping Tim Tszyu

Former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn admits he felt "betrayed" when he was informed that a former member of his training team, Dundee Kim, had been helping undefeated rising junior middleweight star Tim Tszyu.

Horn and Tszyu are scheduled to collide in a highly anticipated Australian grudge match before the end of the year. Their respective promoters are looking at late August and early September.

Kim, a strength and conditioning coach, had worked with Horn for six years and sixteen fights.

Kim had parted ways with Horn's team in January.

According to Kim, some of the facts were exaggerated about his relationship with Tszyu.

He says he's not working with Tszyu in any formal capacity, but admits to doing some work with him during a training session.

Regardless of that, Horn was not pleased when he found out.

“I had absolutely no idea that it was happening,” Horn told Fox Sports. “I was quite disappointed in how it all kind of unfolded and how it happened. … I was like, ‘Huh? What?’ … So I made sure I jumped on and had a look, and it didn’t look very good, that’s for sure.

“I’m still, I guess, disappointed that he’d be even working with him, showing him those few things that I saw on TV about it, and Dundee hasn’t reached out to me at all.

“With what I saw, and I’ve had no calls or anything from him, I feel a little bit betrayed that he’s kind of gone behind my back to kind of share how I move and things to Tim Tszyu."

Horn says Kim broke away from the team, because he was tired of working under head trainer Glenn Rushton. Kim had his own ambitions to be a head trainer.

“I think Dundee just wanted to kind of do it all himself, and become a full-on boxing coach himself,” Horn said. "He didn’t kind of want to be overshadowed by someone like Glenn [Rushton], because I guess Glenn probably has done that a little bit.”

There were also some some disagreeing views between Horn and Kim when it came to compensation.

[kk17]

New Date for the fight is august 26th
https://www.sportingnews.com/au/boxing/ ... cjmapbcheg

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Jeff Horn vs. Tim Tszyu on August 26, With Fans, in Townsville

The new date has been set down. Former WBO welterweight world champion Jeff Horn will fight Tim Tsyzu in Townsville on August 26 in what is certainly the biggest fight in the country in several years.

The junior middleweight fight, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will take place over the ten round distance.

The Queensland government confirmed the new date and it will be held at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

According to the AAP, there will be fans in attendance with organizers revealing that up to 16,000 fans will be allowed to attend the fight - and possibly even more should restrictions be lifted before the date.

“We’ve managed to boost the overall capacity to to 32,000 with seats going on the ground,” said Horn’s promoter Dean Lonergan.

“With current Queensland restrictions allowing a maximum 25,000 people or up to 50 percent of the stadium, it’s allowed to put 16,000 people in there with COVID restrictions.

“Thanks to the great work of the Queensland government we are looking forward to one of the biggest fights in the world to take place. Not many major fights around the world of this nature can take place because of crowd restrictions and the fact that they can’t generate enough revenue to put these fights on.”

Horn (20-2) has the edge, by far, in terms of experience. He won the WBO title with a controversial upset decision over Manny Pacquiao, but then lost the title to Terence Crawford.

The undefeated 25-year-old Tszyu, who is the son of former junior welterweight world champion Kostya Tszyu, is a rising star in the country and won all 15 of his pro fights. Horn, 32-years-old, will be a big step up in class for the younger man.