The unbeaten Tim Tszyu scored an eighth-round stoppage over former WBO welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn in an all-Australian showdown at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville on Wednesday. The bout was contested at junior middleweight and was scheduled for 10.

Tszyu, the son of former undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, dropped Horn in the third and sixth rounds and pulverized his countryman in the eighth, which ultimately led to a corner retirement at the end of that session.

Horn landed with solid shots in the opening seconds of Round 1, but Tszyu quickly picked up on the timing and his counter shots looked dangerous from the get-go. Some of the action was untidy early, although it was Tszyu providing the quality with sizzling one-two combinations.

In the third Tszyu upped the pace and used his strength to maul and brawl on the inside. It was during one of those moments that he produced the first knockdown, a short left hook on the inside, and Horn was now struggling badly. The former titleholder had seen the skills and felt the power and he was now reticent to do anything other than clinch or move. Tszyu began doing a number on his opponent with crunching single shots.

Horn went down again in the sixth when he succumbed to a vicious left hook to the body following a delayed reaction. The former titleholder was doing well to stay in the fight, but we were long past the point of it being competitive. The eighth was another horrible ordeal for Horn, who was battered from pillar to post by the younger man and the stoppage was merciful.

There was controversy in the lead up to the fight when it was revealed that one of the judges, Chris Condon, previously worked the corner of Kostya Tszyu. That was evened out by the fact that ALL three judges hail from Queensland, which is Horn’s hometown. It was all academic.

The 25-year-old Tszyu (16-0, 12 knockouts) holds top 10 rankings with both the IBF and the WBO at 154 pounds, and this victory will go a long way toward securing him his first world title shot. Horn falls to (20-3-1, 13 KOs).

Tom Gray is Associate Editor for Ring Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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