Tim Tszyu proved both his utter class and “animalistic” power in a spectacular defence of his WBO super welterweight world title against Brian Mendoza on the Gold Coast.

In his first official defence of the proper belt, Tszyu both showed brutality and the ability to box perfectly to the rules of the fight – going for rounds and the victory, rather than the KO highlight moment.

While he annihilated Mendoza in the later rounds, with viewers staggered by the American’s ability to withstand the onslaught, Tszyu didn’t fall into the trap of simply going too hard and just accepted what was an inevitable decision victory.

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To sum it up, commentator Ben Damon described Tszyu as both “animalistic” and “thorough and dominant”.

“He’s just a bully! Look at him, he’s just a bully!” former world champion Shawn Porter proclaimed on Main Event commentary.

“It’s just overwhelming. I don’t think Brian Mendoza was necessarily hurt, just overwhelmed by the punch output Tim was bringing.

“He offset that aggression by picking his punches carefully and not giving away too many openings. And I thought that was very intelligent of Tim and his camp as well, to find a way to be aggressive – not overly aggressive, but also not do enough.

“A great outing by Tim … the right punches at the right time.”

Aussie boxing great Jeff Fenech added: “Tim was absolutely brilliant. What a great fight for the first defence of his title.”

Tszyu won 117-111 and 116-112 x2.