Tim Tszyu retires Errol Spence Jnr with resilient home showing

Tim Tszyu wasn’t going to let any other man dictate his boxing match Sunday afternoon in Sydney, producing a persistent, aggressive showing to send former welterweight champion Errol Spence Jnr to retirement by unanimous-decision victory.

Winning the middleweight bout by scores of 118-110 (judge Adam Height), 117-111 (Carlos Costa), 117-111 (Ioana Schwalger), Australia’s Tszyu moved on from a rugged stretch of three losses over the past two years and cast his vision toward a middleweight title.

“[Middleweight’s] my new division and I feel strong,” former WBO 154lbs champion Tszyu told his home-country fans while keeping his family of former champion Kostya and brother Nikita unbeaten Down Under. “This was one hell of a show. I had sleepless nights thinking about the depths I was headed, of what's it going to be like going against a legend like [Spence]. He’s one of the greats.”

The bout appeared even through the first four rounds, but new Tszyu trainer and International Boxing Hall of Fame fighter Jeff Fenech roared at Tszyu to stay in Spence’s face, threatening to leave the premises if Tszyu didn’t.

That mindset positioned Tszyu, 28-3 (18 KOs), for steady success with right-handed head shots that left the 36-year-old Spence swollen on the left side of the head, and resigned to the fact that after three years away from the ring, he won’t fight again.

“It was a good fight, congrats to Tim and Jeff Fenech. It was a good showing by Tim,” Spence said, the former three-belt welterweight champion from Texas fighting for the first time since his destructive loss to five-division champion Terence Crawford three years ago this month.

“Returning, I answered a lot of questions for myself, but it’s time to go home and start a new life. I got my faculties intact, my money is good and my family is by my side. Everything’s going to go well from here.”

Known as “The Truth” and “The Big Fish,” Spence relied on his jab to set up effective left–handed power shots in the early going before Tszyu imposed his will.

The Australian took some previous criticism for not stopping his March 2024 bout when an early head gash from a Sebastian Fundora elbow cost him his belt. He then rushed back into a brutal, multi-knockdown loss to then-IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, and lost again to Fundora.

Dictating a home fight this time and embracing the stern guidance of Fenech this time made for a different story.

“The advice from Jeff Fenech,” Tszyu answered when someone in the ring asked him what decided the outcome. “If I can get half as good as [Fenech and Kostya Tszyu], I’ll be a great man.”

While promoter Oscar De La Hoya said earlier Saturday night that he’d like to stage Tszyu versus De La Hoya’s WBC interim 154lbs champion Vergil Ortiz Jnr in Las Vegas later this year, Tszyu said he’s interested in WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara.

“But beating a great like Errol Spence tops all of that,” Tszyu said.

Tszyu, 31, took control from the fourth round, finding the 28-2 (22 KOs) Spence with hard rights that altered the foreigner champion’s typical forward fighting style, forcing him to answer the rust of the layoff and the move up to 160lbs while dealing with a foe determined to revive his career.

By the eighth round, Fenech was pressing Tszyu to finish Spence, but the proud former U.S. Olympian remained upright and went hard after Tszyu's body in the 11th before running out of the proverbial gas in the 12th as Tszyu celebrated.

In earlier action, former Australian Olympian Paul Fleming, 38, was escorted to his co-main event versus countryman Ahmad Reda, 23, by Aboriginal entertainers.

Some kind of extra show was necessary after planned support-fight boxers and former two-division champions Jermall Charlo (visa issues) and Stephen Fulton (badly missing weight) saw their planned super-middleweight and super-featherweight bouts cancelled. 

In the lightweight battle, Reda leaned on his youth to remain more active than the savvy Fleming, who sought to dictate Reda’s movements by dictating action in spots. 

While Fleming engaged in the theatrics, Reda piled up points, swelling up Fleming’s left eye and darkening his right with scoring blows, aiming to win a pre-fight wager that the loser would cut off their mullet.

A late head clash in the 10th round opened a cut on the right side of Reda’s cheek.

Judges awarded Reda, 9-0 (6 KOs), the unanimous decision over Fleming, 28-2-2 (18 KOs), by scores of 99-91, 97-93, 96-94.

Australian middleweight Callum Peters, 8-0 (7 KOs), stopped Argentina’s Ivan Ricardo Actis 55 seconds into the seventh round when head-jarring power punches by Peters generated no response from the previously unbeaten fighter.

Referee Will Soulos waved off the bout.

Peters’ punishment cut Actis, 13-1-1 (9 KOs), over the left eye and reddened his nose in the fourth round, zapping his enthusiasm for the battle as the 23-year-old Peters kept wailing away with both hands through the next two rounds. Promoter George Rose said Peters is on a fast track toward a world-title shot.

Ranked light-heavyweight Paulo Aokuso of Australia opened the pay-per-view portion of the undercard by delivering a signature left-handed knockout of Luis Antonio Tejeda of the Dominican Republic.

Aokuso, 11-0 (6 KOs), the IBF’s No. 13 light-heavyweight, first knocked down Tejeda, 12-1-1 (9 KOs), in the fifth round before setting up the decisive shot with an earlier left to the face followed by the final left directly to the chin.

The 29-year-old apologized to his home country’s fans because he “fell asleep early,” adding, “I gave you guys a good performance,” by ending their bout 21 seconds into the 10th, as Tejeda fell with the back of his head crashing to the canvas.