A “quite devastated” Tim Tszyu thought his fight against Sebastian Fundora was going to be stopped after sustaining a nasty cut and was “working on instinct” amid a waterfall of blood.
Tszyu suffered the first defeat of his professional career as he dropped a split decision to Fundora.
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Tszyu vs. Fundora: Full Fight Highlights | 14:29
It was a cruel way to lose his unbeaten run, especially since the Australian superstar looked in cruise control for the opening two rounds until he bumped into Fundora’s elbow and opened up a deep cut on his head.
Blood gushed out of the cut and it severely impacted Tszyu as he struggled to see Fundora’s shots coming his way.
Visibly emotional, Tszyu revealed to Main Event’s Ben Damon backstage he could see “nothing” with the blood pouring down his face and trickling into his eyes for “the whole fight.”
So bad was the cut that Tszyu initially felt the fight was going to be waved off immediately after he was inadvertently opened up.
“I thought, ‘No way they can continue,’” Tszyu said.
“I haven’t really seen the replay yet so I’m curious to see how big it actually was and how much, because there was a lot of blood.”
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However, when pressed on whether he felt he needed to stop the fight, Tszyu shook his head.
“Nah, nah,” Tszyu said.
“Everything was working on instinct. I could see his shots and was eliminating them all.
“He was catching me with a few jabs and a few crosses, but nothing was phasing me.”
The seesawing affair had many split on who had won the fight, with one judge even awarding it in Tszyu’s favour.
Even Tszyu’s trainer, Igor Goloubev, couldn’t comfortably call who would be victorious.
“After every fight when it goes 12 rounds, I don’t really know,” Tszyu said.
“I ask Igor, ‘Did we win?’ And he tells me, ‘It could’ve gone either way.’
“I was landing the crispier shots apparently, he was landing more of the volume punches.”
Tszyu then became slightly emotional when Damon congratulated him on his performance.
“You can’t congratulate me because I lost,” Tszyu said.
“If it ain’t a win, I’m not satisfied. And I’m quite devastated. It is what it is.”
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Tszyu’s devastation comes after former world champion Andre Ward revealed he was “very surprised” the Aussie held back on his trademark body shots against Fundora.
Given Fundora’s lanky 197cm frame, many tipped Tszyu to aggressively work the American’s large torso.
However, an assault on Fundora’s midsection largely failed to materialise for Tszyu although criticism on that front would be harsh given the difficulties he had with his vision due to the blood.
Regardless, Ward felt Tszyu certainly could’ve made things “easier for himself” had he thrown more body shots.
“I was very surprised (Tszyu didn’t attack the body),” Ward said on Main Event’s coverage.
“He would actually be in position, he would get close to Sebastian and the left hook would be wide open, but he just wouldn’t throw it.
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“I don’t know if it was the blood, I don’t know if he didn’t have confidence in it. But he seemed to not be able to resist the desire to go to the head.
“I don’t know if it was the height, I don’t know if he overestimated the last fight that Sebastian Fundora had and figured he didn’t have a chin any more, I’m not sure.
“But I think he could’ve made the fight a lot easier for himself.”
Although Tszyu came in for some criticism from Ward, the former world champ hailed Fundora for finally utilising his 203cm reach advantage in somewhat of a departure from his all-action offensive displays.
“I have to give credit to Sebastian Fundora becuase this whole week, I did not anticipate or see him fighting a disciplined fight at range, the way that he did tonight,” Ward said.
“I thought that the knockout would bother him, I didn’t see any ill effects of that and I saw him fight a disciplined fight tonight.”
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