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Dean Lonergan, promoter for former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn, is working hard to get over the finish line for an Australian mega-bout with undefeated rising star Tim Tszyu.

Tszyu, the son of former undisputed champion and Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, has been calling for a fight with Horn since last year.

Horn bounced back in force back in December, when he dropped Michael Zerafa twice to secure a majority decision in their drama-filled rematch.

The discussions for a Horn vs. Tszyu encounter have taken a step further after Tszyu's promoter, Matt Rose, reportedly accepted a 60-40 split to do the fight.

The date of April 18 is the target for the contest.

Lonergan cautions that a split agreement is just one piece of the puzzle to get a deal done.

"They might have accepted the 60-40, but that doesn't mean anything. The reason I say it doesn't mean anything is there is a whole lot of detail to work out," Lonergan said to the Canberra Times.

"First and foremost, you have to get stuff in there about rematch clauses and how they would work, that was a big bone of contention with Michael Zerafa. Are they prepared to go where we tell them to go? I don't know, all I've seen and heard is they will accept the 60-40 but that's just the start.

"There's a long way to go. I haven't had an in-depth discussion with Matty Rose yet. Until Matt and I nail all the details and get a signed agreement, as far as I'm concerned there is nothing in place. We've got a long way to go yet, if they have agreed to the 60-40 which they're saying in the media, which I don't think they will back away from, there's a whole lot of detail to go through yet. This is far from done."

Source

I must say, this interests me.

It will be a perfect test for Tszyu at the current stage of his career.

DrDuke wrote: ↑09 Jan 2020, 07:54 It will be a perfect test for Tszyu at the current stage of his career.

Yeh. Horn has proved he isn’t that good. But it will be a good test for Tim regardless.

We know how Horn fights and what he can bring.

15 fights then Horn, impressive. I have only seen 1 fight of his v Vassell and he looked sharp.
Still seems like a novice, but you have to jump in at some point I guess.

This definitely has two different feels for each fighter

Horn 1. Payday 2. Can I stay competitive, at least domestically/retire

Tszyu 1. Payday 2. Competitiveness

If Tim can beat Horn, it shows he can match it with the world-class (or formerly world-class, pending on your opinion of Horn), if not - is it too much too soon or display the limits of Tim's future?

I guess for Horn, if he beats him he might still be looking out for another big opponent to boost the retirement fund. If not, is it the end?

madball1982 wrote: ↑12 Jan 2020, 02:27 This definitely has two different feels for each fighter

Horn 1. Payday 2. Can I stay competitive, at least domestically/retire

Tszyu 1. Payday 2. Competitiveness

If Tim can beat Horn, it shows he can match it with the world-class (or formerly world-class, pending on your opinion of Horn), if not - is it too much too soon or display the limits of Tim's future?

I guess for Horn, if he beats him he might still be looking out for another big opponent to boost the retirement fund. If not, is it the end?

Horn only has one bad loss on his record and it was Up 2 weights at a time and taking his opponent lightly. He is still young. If he beats Tim then he could make a genuine run at a 154 belt. Too small for 160, not good enough for 147. But 154 isn't exactly stacked, there will be weaker belts there.

Stepping up to the plate fairly early just like his old man huh? Interesting.

I think Tim will box his ears off. He’d be a fool to get into it with him, Horn is a tough guy but I think he could be an easy night’s work for a sharp mobile southpaw. But Jeff has surprised us before

Unbeaten prospect Tim Tszyu has denied reports that he's unhappy with a 40-60 split for a potential showdown with former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn.

The fight is being targeted for April by their respective promoters, and at the moment the contest is viewed as the biggest possible fight to be made in Australia.

Tszyu is not concerned with the money.

Tsyzu, the son of Hall of Famer and former unified champion Kostya Tszyu, wants to target a world title in the next twelve months.

In order to do so, he believes that it's necessary to beat the biggest name in his country, which at the moment is Horn.

To get the deal done, Tszyu has problem bending on the money to make it happen.

"I don't care about the split. It can be whatever he wants it to be. The only thing I care about is beating the best in Australia so I can then go and take on the world. I entered this sport to become the best, not to earn money. There are things that come with becoming the best, but I didn't come to this sport to make money out of it," Tszyu told Daily Telegraph.

"Horn is the number one guy in Australia and I need to clean out Australia before taking on the world. I have to beat Horn before I go on to bigger and better things. That is the only reason I want this fight."

Jeff Horn, Tim Tszyu Haggle Over Rematch Clause, Fight Length

Serious negotiations continue to play out for a potential Australian mega-fight between former world champion Jeff Horn and undefeated rising star Tim Tszyu.

The two sides are discussing a contest to take place on a date in April.

According to The Weekend Australian, Horn’s promoter Dean Lonergan and Tszyu’s representative Matt Rose held further talks on Friday but at the moment the two sides are no closer to a deal.

The two sides have already reached an agreement on the money, with a 60-40 revenue split in favor of Horn.

But there are two hurdles that neither side is budging on.

Horn want a rematch clause - Tszyu does not. And Horn wants a ten round fight, while Tszyu believes his chances are better the longer the fight goes on and is looking for a twelve round fight.

“The fight now hangs in the balance,” Lonergan said.

“The Horn camp won’t do an agreement without a rematch clause. Matt Rose was very aggressive on this point, but he’s got to realise raising his voice and carrying on like a pork chop is not going to change our position. If Tim Tyszu wants this fight his team will need to concede on this point. Horn is on the A side and will dictate terms.

“They were smart enough to concede they were only a 40 percent of the equation and we were very generous in letting them have that much. Tim Tyszu and team should look at the rematch clause as a compliment. It says we are taking them seriously and the fact we won’t back away from it tells him we know this is a real fight. The ball is now in their camp as to whether they want the fight or not.”

Horn is the more experiences boxer and wants a 10 rounder??

Also, what is it with him an rematch clauses? Does he believe he's gonna lose, like he did against Zerafa? Why not just prepare properly the first time round.

He's already getting 60-40 split in his favor.
Fair enough he might be the A-side.. But I believe when it's Horn vs. Tszyu, the whole A-side and B-side bullsh!t doesnt even count. Not like it's a major fight, (although it probably is Down Under)..

Tszyu's team are confident with a 12 rounder. He's gone the full 10 round previously twice. He has had two scheduled 12 rounders, but non going past round 4. They are als confident they can win, because the way I see it, they beat Horn and MOVE ON. No need to hang on around there, makes sense. Kinda what Zerafa wanted to do. Felt he deserved a shot at Murata but the stupid rematch clause cost him a career-high payday.

being Australian I try to follow tim tszyu but have never heard anything about any of his fights, zero hype, not been on at the pub, 90% would of gone without me noticing without boxrec. In contrast horn was on a couple of parker undercards including his world title fight against ruiz, then main evented 6 big cards in a row for aus. sold out stadiums in a couple of them, iv watched them at a pub with a hyped crowd, and 3 of them have been for a world title.

I think with horn bringing that and tszyu bringing his dads name, if the split is as close as 60-40 its not unreasonable for horn to ask for a rematch clause. I mean, if tszyu is better and can beat him twice that would be his 2 best wins and his jump onto world stage.

Jeff Horn To Budge on Rematch Clause, Wants Tszyu To Take Deal

Former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn is willing to to budge on one of the two negotiating points to finalize a deal to fight unbeaten rising star Tim Tszyu.

The two sides had agreed on a 60-40 split in terms of the money and they are targeting a date of April 18, in what would be the biggest clash on Australian soil in years.

But they were haggling on two items - Horn wanted a rematch clause and a ten round distance. Tszyu wanted no rematch clause and a twelve round distance.

Horn is willing to walk away from the rematch clause, but he's not going to budge on the contest being a twelve round bout - unless Tszyu's handlers offer up more money in his direction.

He is urging Tszyu to take the current terms to make the fight happen.

"If they want to make it a 12-rounder, they will have to pay me more," Horn said to WA Today. "If I was getting offered this type of fight at the stage of the career Tim is in, I’d be jumping at a 70-30 split. Even if it was 80-20, I’d be raring at the bit at trying to get it.

"I was exactly the same with Manny Pacquiao, I didn’t think about what money I was getting for that fight. I just took it. Tim Tszyu is going off his dad’s name as well. Certainly, I wouldn’t be asking for a lot more if he was in his position without his family history.

"People are excited about it. The majority of people expect me to lose, as normal. On social media, I read everywhere that they’re going for Tim, that I’m past it and that I’ll lose the fight. Hopefully I can prove them wrong once again. That’s what I’ve continually got to keep doing. I think I’ve got too much experience at this stage, it’s definitely early on in his career."

Horn is stupid. This is supposed to be a huge fight for Aussie and will most definately be a PPV fight. Should really be a 12 rounder IMO.

But Horn is now saying he'll drop the rematch clause (something he wanted and Tszyu didn't).

I do laugh at that he playing is A-side stick to the max with demanding more money for two extra rounds. Petty mindgames.

And he's extraordinarily lucky to even have any A-side status to play around with.

squiggy wrote: ↑30 Jan 2020, 11:54 And he's extraordinarily lucky to even have any A-side status to play around with.

But he does ,, he is the one with the international record , the win oover paccy and Mundine ,, He has the ranking Tim wants and really has been easy with the negotiations asking for 60-40 .. He's now conceded to fight with no rematch clause , , which Tim is silly not to want , If its close a rematch will make good money in Aust ,, If Tim loses with no rematch clause , and no rematch split sorted , it would cost him Horn will be in the driving seat and want more , If Horn loses well he'll probably retire ,

Regards the 12 rnds , its not for a title so why is Tim asking for it If Tim and his team can convince a govering body to strip a champion and give him the belt , I'm sure Horn would agree to a 12 rnd fight , other than that it should be 10 rnds .

Its Tims chance to put himself on the world map , WITHOUT having to face a real good opponent , he should'nt be demanding anything , just be happy he's got a high profile fight , probably make a million or two , grab a rating , and all without actually fighting anyone real good , Horn is the one who's put the hard yards in up till now ,, If i was him i'd get the shits and tell Tims team to go do one

coneye wrote: ↑02 Feb 2020, 02:44

squiggy wrote: ↑30 Jan 2020, 11:54 And he's extraordinarily lucky to even have any A-side status to play around with.

But he does ,, he is the one with the international record , the win oover paccy and Mundine ,, He has the ranking Tim wants and really has been easy with the negotiations asking for 60-40 .. He's now conceded to fight with no rematch clause , , which Tim is silly not to want , If its close a rematch will make good money in Aust ,, If Tim loses with no rematch clause , and no rematch split sorted , it would cost him Horn will be in the driving seat and want more , If Horn loses well he'll probably retire ,

Regards the 12 rnds , its not for a title so why is Tim asking for it If Tim and his team can convince a govering body to strip a champion and give him the belt , I'm sure Horn would agree to a 12 rnd fight , other than that it should be 10 rnds .

Its Tims chance to put himself on the world map , WITHOUT having to face a real good opponent , he should'nt be demanding anything , just be happy he's got a high profile fight , probably make a million or two , grab a rating , and all without actually fighting anyone real good , Horn is the one who's put the hard yards in up till now ,, If i was him i'd get the shits and tell Tims team to go do one

Just because there is no rematch clause, doesn’t mean they CANT have a rematch. Who knows.

Also, this will be considered a BIG fight down under right? Plenty of fights that are considered BIG are 12 rounders.

Just a quick example off my head. Haye vs. Bellew both times. Not even an eliminator.

Wasn’t both of Haye’s comeback fights against Di Mori and Cobra also 12 rounders?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑02 Feb 2020, 06:50

And I have already begun to wait something else. Both teams know, that Tszyu will win, so Tszyu's team is looking past Horn and they don't want a rematch. Horn has somewhat of a name, they want to take this scalp and move further. While Horn is probably interested just in cashing out. I guess, they agreed on a fight without the rematch clause and on a solid payday for Horn.

DrDuke wrote: ↑02 Feb 2020, 13:28

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑02 Feb 2020, 06:50

And I have already begun to wait something else. Both teams know, that Tszyu will win, so Tszyu's team is looking past Horn and they don't want a rematch. Horn has somewhat of a name, they want to take this scalp and move further. While Horn is probably interested just in cashing out. I guess, they agreed on a fight without the rematch clause and on a solid payday for Horn.

Does seem the rematch clause is over with , Horn has agreed to no clause ,, Still think its a bit silly on Tims part , a rematch clause would of suited him better , if its close it would be a bigger payday , probably early retirement money couple of mill , if its not close in Tims favor , Horn would probably not call it and retire ,
Main money is on Tim , personaly i'm not so sure , boxing is about levels and up till now Tszyu has had cannon fodder , he's yet to step up to the next level , interesting fight

12 rounds or 10 ?

Tim Tszyu Confident He'll End Jeff Horn as Deal Reached

Rising junior middleweight star Tim Tszyu, the son of former champion and Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu, is confident that he will end Jeff Horn when the two Australian stars collide in April.

After a very long an complex negotiations, the two sides have reportedly reached an agreement with a 60-40 split in favor of Horn.

The two sides were haggling on the issue of a rematch clause and the length of the fight. Horn stepped away from his rematch clause demand. No word if the fight has been agreed upon for ten rounds or twelve. Horn wanted ten, while Tszyu was demanding twelve.

The location is yet to be confirmed.

The date was slated to be April 18. Brisbane is the frontrunner to host, with Sydney, Townsville and Perth in the running.

Both last fought in December. Horn avenged his earlier loss to Michael Zerafa with a decision win in their rematch, while Tszyu was too much for Jack Brubaker.

Tszyu (15-0) is confident he will end Horn (20-2-1), a former welterweight world champion with an obvious edge in experience with fights against Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford and others.

“It’s my opportunity,” Tszyu said to Fox Sports. “It’s the best position that I want to be at, and I know this [fight] is the one.”

“This is what I was born for. I’ve been fighting my whole life for this particular moment. I want to test him. I know I can [dig deep]. Yes, he’s fought some of the greats, but I believe I can bring him into those trenches and test him in a way he’s already been tested, and in a way he won’t be able to survive.

“This fight is like every fight of mine. I’m going to take it seriously and again, it’s just one step at a time. Jeff Horn’s just another name on the list.”