Unbeaten junior middleweight star Tim Tszyu was dominant in a fifth-round stoppage of fellow-Australian Dennis Hogan at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales on Wednesday. The official time was 2:29.

Tszyu, who is rated No. 9 by The Ring at 154 pounds, floored Hogan with a spectacular left uppercut in the fifth and stayed in hot pursuit. Moments later another torrid combination to head and body forced Hogan’s corner to throw in the towel.

After claiming center ring in Round 1, Tszyu began letting the bombs go immediately. The punches lacked accuracy, but the mere threat of potential damage forced Hogan onto the backfoot.

A clash of heads opened up a cut to the side of Tszyu’s left eye in the second and he appeared distracted for the remainder of that session. Hogan was doing a good job of making his man miss at this point, but there wasn’t much in the way of counterpunching.

In the third, Tszyu went to the body and the effect of his work was almost immediate. A left hook to the midsection forced Hogan to bend over at the waist and the writing was on the wall. The fourth saw more of the same and the stoppage in Round 5 was merciful.

The 26-year-old Tszyu (18-0, 14 knockouts) is the WBO No. 1 contender and he has already called for a matchup against that organization’s titleholder, Brian Castano. Argentina’s Castano outpointed Patrick Teixeira in February to claim his first world title.

Hogan falls to 28-4-1 (7 KOs).

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

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