Tim Tszyu has restored his reputation and reignited his international career with a brutal beatdown of American Joey Spencer in Newcastle.
The referee stopped the fight two minutes and 18 seconds into the fourth round after Australia’s former WBO world champion battered Spencer with a stunning blitz to the head and body.
Spencer had lost only once in 19 professional fights and was expected to pose a huge threat to Tszyu’s comeback hopes.
But the Australian promised redemption and duly delivered on Sunday.
The desperately needed victory was Tszyu’s first in 18 months, following damaging world-title defeats in the US last year to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev.
Tim Tszyu celebrates victory in the IBO Inter-Coninental Superwelterweight title bout. Photograph: Mark Evans/EPA
“I’m back, baby,” he told the sellout crowd at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
The impressive victory set up a likely blockbuster with Keith Thurman after the pair were scheduled to fight in Las Vegas last March, before the American great withdrew with a torn biceps muscle.
In his first fight in three years, former unified world champ Thurman pummelled Brock Jarvis in Sydney to prove his own global relevance, before calling out Tszyu.
Tszyu’s latest conquest improved his tally to 25 wins and two defeats, while also extending his family’s remarkable record in Australia to 51-0, with his Hall-of-Fame father Kostya (18-0) and younger brother Nikita (10-0) also unbeaten on home turf.
Burnt by brazenly trying to walk through Murtazaliev in Florida in October, a watchful Tszyu barely threw a punch in Sunday’s opening round.
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He caught Spencer with a nice left in the second, then took the third round with a powerful combination to have the US brawler retreating.
It was all over when the referee had no choice but to save Spencer, who was left black and blue following the savage assault.
“I couldn’t do a third consecutive loss,” the 30-year-old Tszyu said. “But I hope I teach people if they drop and they go on the floor and when s*** hits the fan, you can always get back up.
“The critics, they’re always going to be there, but for me, I’ve proven to myself and I proved it to everyone in the world that I’m back.
