Tim Tszyu is putting it all on the line — again — when he faces dangerous Mexico Carlos Ocampo on the Gold Coast on Sunday afternoon (AEDT).
And the action is well and truly underway with three thunderous knockouts to open proceedings.
The unbeaten Australian (22-0, 16 KOs) will defend his WBO interim junior middleweight title and in the process is gambling his upcoming shot at division king Jermell Charlo, with their unified title fight delayed due to the American’s injuries.
After an impressive win over US veteran Tony Harrison earlier this year, Tszyu will face another tough test from Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs), who went the distance with Sebastian Fundora last year and has only been stopped once previously— by the unbeaten Errol Spence Jr.
The card also features rising Aussie Sam Goodman in a huge title eliminator against unbeaten American Ra’eese Aleem.
Follow below for all the build-up and live action on fight day.
Watch undefeated Australian superstar Tim Tszyu put his title on the line against Mexican warrior Carlos Ocampo LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo Sports. No kayo subscription needed. Sunday 18 June 6PM AEST. ORDER NOW >
Tszyu’s war cry ignites Aussies | 03:03
TSZYU OPENS UP ON ICONIC LINE
“What’s my name?”
It’s the iconic line that Tim Tszyu repeatedly roared after beating ex-world champion Tony Harrison in his last bout.
Now, he’s opened up on that statement – and how determined he is to move out of his father’s shadow.
“I think from the first-ever fight I ever fought, people have been saying the same exact thing,” Tszyu told The NY Post. “‘You’re only here because of your last name.’
“For me, saying ‘What’s my name?’ is to remind everyone that it’s not my last name that’s got me here, it’s my first name.
“Yeah, 100 percent [I established that]. I beat the man who beat the man. That’s all there was.”
Tony Harrison took plenty of digs at the Aussie over his name before the bout, claiming he didn’t deserve to even be fighting for a world title
And he also wasn’t afraid of needling Tszyu over his first name either in the build-up, with the American repeatedly referring to him as Timothy in an odd interview.
So when Tszyu emerged triumphant over Harrison, he roared: “What’s my mother****ing name? Say my mother****ing name!”
Harrison was forced to listen to the crowd cheer it back – and the whole world is listening, too.
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What to expect from Tszyu rival; the US ‘beast’ ready to rock undefeated Aussie — Burning Qs
EXPLOSIVE FEUD ENDS IN DEMOLITION JOB
After an explosive war of words threatened to overshadow the main event, Rocky Ogden delivered an equally explosive finish to demolish Mark Schleibs with three first-round knockdowns in the very first round of the main card.
Just one minute into their bout, Ogden caught Schleibs with a ruthless straight right. Schleibs bounced back to his feet and attempted to fight fire with fire, landing plenty of his own shots despite being clearly hurt.
With 30 seconds remaining in the opening round, another chopping right hand from Ogden sent Schleibs back to the canvas.
He just managed to beat the count again despite wobbly legs.
But it didn’t last long, with Ogden pushing the tempo and forcing the referee to step in when Schleibs nearly fell through the ropes after yet another right hand to the chin.
The pair were able to make up after their week at war.
“It’s all entertainment. I didn’t take disrespect too well,” Ogden said, but added: “I was actually really calm coming to this fight.”
“We put on a pretty entertaining week so everyone should be pretty happy and shit.”
Ogden is now 6-0 with five knockouts to his name, and added: “You just keep seeing me level up.”
Insane exchange takes over Tszyu presser | 02:02
BRUTAL KO FROM HEAVYWEIGHT RISING STAR
It took just two and a half minutes for the Tszyu-Ocampo undercard to explode into life with a vicious first-round knockout.
Rising heavyweight star Liam Talivaa, who previously sparred with Paul Gallen in the build-up to the ex-NRL star’s Kris Terzievski bout last year, sent Isaac Liki crashing to the canvas with a devastating left hook to the chin.
Michael Schiavello said in commentary for Main Event: “That was an absolute ripsnorter!”
He added Talivaa: “Absolutely crumbled Isaac Liki.”
30-year-old Liki had no chance of regaining his feet as the referee immediately waved off the bout.
29-year-old southpaw Talivaa has only been boxing for three years, and turned pro just 12 months ago, but now racks up a second brutal knockout from his five wins.
Talivaa is trained by the renowned Tony Del Vecchio in Bondi, who has coached fighters to six world titles.
He entered the fight 13kg lighter than his rival and with a 12cm reach disadvantage, but demonstrated incredible power as both fighters swung for the fences in the opening round.
‘ABSOLUTE FLAMETHROWER’ CRUSHES BEAST
In the very next fight, Queensland heavyweight Troy Pilcher claimed a statement first-round knockout victory over one of the most intimidating men in Australian boxing, Hasely Hepi.
Hepi, a Maori man who entered in style to a large group performing a haka, had claimed three-straight knockout wins since the pair fought to a draw in September.
But it was Pilcher who blasted his way to victory in a thrilling rematch to retain the ANBF Queensland heavyweight title and move to a 6-1 record.
Hepi (now 6-1-2) copped an overhand right early in the first round and was immediately shaken.
Pilcher shoved his rival to the ground with some rough-housing tactics, which wasn’t ruled a knockdown – but Pilcher soon followed up by sending his rival to the canvas twice more in the first opening round.
The first came via a thunderous right hand, with Hepi gamely beating the count to continue.
“An absolute flamethrower of a right hand,” Michael Schiavello said in commentary.
But Hepi couldn’t survive a mauling barrage in the dying seconds of the round, with an uppercut leaving him flat on his back.
Two-time world champion Billy Dib said in commentary for Main Event: “What a shot. What an ending! I told you don’t blink!”
Pilcher declared: “My goal here is to make a statement. I belong here.”
VEGAS LIGHTS UP FILIPINO IN ‘ABSOLUTE THRILLER’
With a name like Vegas, you expect entertainment – and 21-year-old Aussie Vegas Larfield delivered in a super bantamweight thriller against Filipino Jhunrille Castino.
Larfield showed immense technical ability to seal the biggest victory of his career in a high-quality bout, the judges awarding the young Australian the win (59-55 x2, 60-54) to move his unbeaten record to nine wins.
Castino – who has never been stopped – was fighting for the first time outside the Philippines, but brought vicious power and troubled the Australian from the start with a dangerous right hand.
But Larfield combined precise jabs with a body assault in a fine all-round display, with the bout soon turning into an exceptional battle.
Australian boxing great Barry Michael roared: “What a war!”
And Schiavello labelled it: “An absolute thriller.”
‘I feel like a pitbull!’: Tszyu gears up | 03:03
Castino showed remarkable resilience, with Dib declaring: “He’s one tough hombre, that’s for sure!”
But former rugby league player Larfield showed his class – and plenty of guts himself – to win what Michael called the “biggest victory so far in his blossoming career.”
“I probably give myself I pretty low rating,” for his performance, Larfield said.
But he was full of praise for his rival: “He was a tough fight, he made me work for it.”
“I want to be undisputed world champion,” he boldly declared.
There’s plenty of room to improve his defence if he’s going to challenge the world’s elite, but Peter Badel of the Courier Mail said: “I think he can go all the way to Vegas and be world champ.”
HOW TO WATCH
Fight fans in Australia can catch all the action from Tszyu v Ocampo on Fox Sports, Kayo and Main Event.
The prelims will be LIVE on Fox Sports 505 from 10am AEST before the action switches over to PPV from 12pm.
Watch undefeated Australian superstar Tim Tszyu put his title on the line against Mexican warrior Carlos Ocampo LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo Sports. No Kayo subscription needed. Sunday 18 June 6PM AEST. ORDER NOW >
WHAT TIME DOES IT START
The prelims for Tszyu v Ocampo begin at 10am AEST, before the main card kicks off at 12pm.
FULL FIGHT CARD
MAIN CARD from 12pm on Main Event of Kayo Sports
Tim Tszyu vs. Carlos Ocampo for the WBO interim super-welterweight title
Sam Goodman vs. Ra’eese Aleem – IBF super bantamweight world title eliminator
Justin Frost vs. Hassan Hamdan
Rocky Ogden def. Mark Schleibs by R1 TKO
PRELIMS from 10am AEST on Kayo Sports of Fox Sports channel 505
Vegas Larfield def. Jhunrille Castino by UD (59-55 x2, 60-54)
Troy Pilcher def. Hasely Hepi by R1 KO
Liam Talivaa def. Isaac Liki by R1 KO
LIVE UPDATES (if the blog does not appear, click here)
NIKITA’S WARNING FOR OCAMPO AFTER FIRST-HAND TIM LESSON
Nikita Tszyu is backing older brother Tim to score a devastating knockout against Ocampo after himself being sent for surgery after a sparring incident with the undefeated Australian star.
On the eve of Tim Tszyu’s hyped WBO championship bout against Ocampo, his brother has finally revealed the crazy reason sparring between them has really been cancelled indefinitely.
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia, 25-year-old Nikita said all fighting between them is now off following an incident eight months ago that required him going under the knife.
The younger Tszyu sibling, who is himself undefeated in six fights, said he and Tim were going hard in sparring when “my world got shaken” by a punch flush on his nose.
So heavy was Nikita hit, he couldn’t breathe properly for weeks and eventually went to get the issue checked out – only to learn he would require immediate surgery.
Tszyu also explained how a polyp had starting forming inside his nose because of “trauma”.
All of which now has him predicting a Tim Tszyu KO over Ocampo inside the Gold Coast Convention Centre today, saying: “I can only say poor Carlos … poor Carlos”.
Asked after Saturday’s weigh-ins if the pair had sparred during camp for this Ocampo fight, Nikita Tszyu replied: “No.
“Last time we sparred, Tim messed up my nose so bad it required surgery.
“It was before my Darkon Dryden fight.
“We were sparring and he hit me flush on the nose.
“So for that whole camp, I couldn’t breathe through my nose. I had to breathe through my mouth.
“Then after weeks of being unable to breath, I went to the doctors and got it checked, with an MRI showing a polyp growing in there.
“They told me it was most likely from trauma — I had a polyp in my nose from sparring Tim.
“So I know the power he has now.
Charlo reveals bizarre super-excuse? | 00:47
“I got hit with 16 ounce gloves, while wearing headgear, and my world got shaken.
“So with 10 ounce gloves, I can’t imagine.
“I can only say poor Carlos … poor Carlos.”
Asked for a prediction in Sunday’s headliner, Nikita offered simply “stoppage”.
“I see Tim breaking Ocampo down and beating him at his own style, that Mexican style,” he said.
“As Tim explained it, No Mas.
“To beat a Mexican you have to fight like a Mexican and that’s exactly what Tim is going to do.
“He’s going to step on his throat and show the world that he’s got the dog inside of him.”
While the pair no longer spar, they still train regularly together with Nikita often going through his own warm ups while Tim is in the ring.
“And watching him spar now, he’s a freak,” the brother said.
“I’m amazed at the intelligence, the conditioning, the level of focus he has, especially in the later rounds.
“Tim does 12 rounds and looks completely fresh, it’s crazy.
“And he’s been coming in with bad intentions, really trying to hurt these guys.”
While Tim has been on the Gold Coast for around a fortnight, Nikita only arrived in town on Friday but was immediately playing pranks on his brother.
Heading for a jog along the boardwalk shortly after arriving, he came across the champ walking with members of his fight team.
“So I came up to him pretending to be a dog,” he laughs, referencing the fact his brother needed emergency surgery only three weeks ago after being attacked.
“I was jogging along the boardwalk and saw him walking with a few guys from the team.
“I was thinking ‘is that Tim?’
“So when I realized it was him, I started crouching low in front of him, like I was about to attack.”
It’s not too soon?
“Nah, he’s been laughing about it the whole time,” his brother continued.
“Was making Chihuahua jokes straight away.
“I was actually so surprised (after the attack) because it seemed like nothing had happened.
“I was thinking ‘surely the fight is canceled’.
“But with his routine, there was nothing that changed at all.
“And the cool he showed, the patience, the level of focus he has at the moment is insane.”
Reckon he dodged a bullet?
“He dodged an asteroid,” Nikita laughs.
“Honestly, Tim was so lucky that dog’s tooth didn’t get anything serious.
“Hitting nothing serious in his hand, missing the muscle, missing the tendon … it’s crazy”.
– Nick Walshaw