By: Sean Crose
Tim Tszyu made his American debut on Saturday when he squared off against Terrell Gausha at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Son of the popular and acclaimed Kostya Tszyu, the 27 year old Australian had yet to taste defeat. Gausha, however, wasn’t some tomato can put in there to make Tszyu look good. What’s more, a win over Tszyu would make a nice addition to the American’s resume, so it made sense that Gausha would make the most of his opportunity. The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds in the junior middleweight division.
The 20-0 Tszyu applied pressure right off the bat in the first. Still, it was the 22-2-1 Guasha who dropped his man in the opening chapter. Tszyu got to his feet quickly, but the knockdown served as quite a welcome to the United States. Tszyu returned to applying pressure in the second. The pressure continued in the third – but Guasha was able to employ an effective defense and to land well. Guasha went down in the fourth, though it was ruled a slip. The fighter didn’t look great after getting back to his feet, however. Tszyu took the opportunity to hammer away while his opponent was on the ropes.
Tszyu pounded effectively on his man in the first minute of the fifth. It looked like the fight might be stopped as Tszyu continued to punch relentlessly. Gausha was nothing but tough and game, though. He also had enough experience to cover well and to know when to hold. It almost looked as if Gausha might be trying to rope-a-dope Tszyu. By the sixth, though, Gausha’s output was minimal. By the seventh, the fight had fallen into a pattern: Tszyu clubbed away on the ropes while Guasha kept his gloves up.
Tszyu seemed to have slowed down a bit by the eighth while Guasha appeared content to wait to counter. How many of Tszyu’s blows could he absorb, however? And how much energy had Tszyu exerted swinging away for round after round? Gausha got off the ropes in the ninth while Tszyu’s pace had diminished. Tszyu came back and kept the pressure up in the tenth. By the eleventh it was clear that the fight was a matter of output. Gausha defended himself well, but his offense had faded away after the first round knockdown.
By the final round it was obvious Gausha needed a knockout to win. Beaten up, but not without gamesmanship and courage, Gausha gave it his all. Tszyu, however, was too strong and stylistically challenging for him to succeed against. Tszyu walked out of the ring with the unanimous decision win.