By: Hans Themistode
Grab a cup of coffee and try to keep your eyelids open as Jr middleweight contender Jeff Horn will take on Tim Tszyu at 5 am eastern time.
Their scheduled contest will take place in Australia at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.
The intrigue surrounding their contest has gone from finding out who the better fighter is, to will their contest be a fair one?
Earlier this week tensions flared as two of the three assigned judges were linked to favoritism of Tszyu. Chris Condon, was known to be very close to the father of Tszyu while also allowing Tim to train at his gym. Another judge in Phil Holiday, went on record stating who he believed would win between Horn and Tszyu. The longtime judge tipped Tszyu as the winner due to Horn’s rough and bloody style which produces several cuts.
With a decision seemingly unlikely, Horn’s trainer, Glenn Rushton, expressed how pissed off he was with the current state of affairs.
Still, regardless of the controversy, their contest will go forward.
For Horn, his biggest moment in the ring is something that he is still hoping to live up too. The Australian contender picked up the biggest win of his career in mid 2017 with a controversial victory over eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao.
That victory placed Horn on the map in a major way. But he has yet to live up to the hype. One year later following his win, Horn found himself on the losing end of a one sided beating against current welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
Horn would bounce back in his next contest before picking up another defeat. This time against Micael Zerafa. Horn would redeem himself in the immediate rematch. But he is still in search of consistency following his huge win over Pacquiao.
As for Tszyu, he is attempting to live up to his father’s hall of fame name. And through 15 professional contests, he has done just that. His competition however, has been underwhelming. A win against Horn would present him with the biggest victory in his short career. Whether or not he will pull off said victory without any assistance from the judges is up for debate.
This event is due to kick off in just a few hours and will be available on pay-per-view.