Boxer Tim Tszyu lost his championship fight to Sebastian Fundora due to injury

The fight between Tim Tszyu, representing Australia, the son of Russian boxing legend Konstantin Tszyu, and American Sebastian Fundora can claim to be, if not the most dramatic, then the bloodiest in the last few years. Tszyu, who was ranked higher than his opponent, lost by a split decision, it seems, solely due to a severe cut received in the second round. Fundora, also bleeding, eventually took the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight title (up to 69.9 kg) from the Australian and added the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) belt to it.

Observers who happened to be at the T-Mobile Arena and saw this fight came up with quite obvious metaphors to describe it. For example, correspondents ESPN it seemed like they were inside a horror movie depicting a zombie apocalypse, with blood all around.

Seas of blood. Oceans of blood. And in the middle of them some fierce battles are raging, and it is unclear which of them will get out alive and which is destined to turn into mincemeat.

What can I say, it was a special spectacle. True, later, with a slightly cooled head, one should, of course, remember that his plot, no matter how extraordinary it may seem, was in fact largely born of the circumstances under which the fight itself matured. Tim Tszyu, who had already achieved a special status in boxing, approximately the same as that once enjoyed by his great father Konstantin Tszyu, who had nothing but victories on his record, had to defend his World Boxing Organization junior middleweight championship belt in a match against American Keith Thurman. But less than two weeks ago, Thurman pulled out with a hand injury and Tszyu agreed to be replaced by Sebastian Fundora.

And the only advantage for him in this replacement was that thanks to it, the vacant title of the World Boxing Council was also at stake in the fight, it was clear in advance to those who are well versed in boxing. On the contrary, agreeing to it seemed terribly risky. And it’s not that instead of a veteran with a glorious past and a suspicious present, Tszyu got a 26-year-old fighter in his prime, on the rise, whose recent misfire in the fight with Brian Mendoza still seemed more like an accident, a consequence of some lack of experience. What was more important was that instead of a short opponent with a classic style, the Australian faced an opponent who was two meters tall, gigantic by the standards of the category, and also a left-hander who had not yet had to adapt to emergency mode. Fundora was preparing for a clash with Ukrainian Sergei Bogachuk, who is similar to Tszyu in anthropometry and manner.

Knowing all this, I was drawn to look at the key event of the match from a different angle. Before him, everything was fine with Tim Tszyu.

He hit his opponent with his right for almost two rounds, showing that his class allows him to adapt to the opponent’s unusual parameters. But in the end something happened that changed everything. And it was a completely unintentional elbow from Fundora on Tszyu’s forehead, which provoked a cut. And most likely, this blow, this wound would not have happened if a boxer of comparable height to him had fought against the champion, and not one who was a couple of tens of centimeters taller. Well, or at least if Tszyu had carefully analyzed different options and nuances with suitable sparring partners in his training camp, he would have figured out how to minimize the risk.

But the cut was severe, and the cutman could not cope with it. When Tim Tszyu later explained that he felt blind in the ring, he had no difficulty believing him. When there’s so much blood on your face, it’s really hard to see anything, there’s probably a veil, a fog before your eyes.

Considering this circumstance, what happened in the ring over the next ten rounds should apparently be considered Tszyu’s feat, and not his failure. He, of course, no longer had any advantage. But that’s not to say that he kept himself on the thin side. Let’s say, statistics from CompuBox record that in terms of the number of accented blows that hit the target, Tszyu still surpassed Fundora, and surpassed him noticeably – 136 versus 101. And if we continue with the numbers, then the American’s advantage is only in his jab work: he threw as many as 437, 93 reached the goal (the Australian fighter’s indicators were very modest – 112 and 39).

It was also impossible not to pay attention to the face of Sebastian Fundora. There was also plenty of blood on him: it was gushing from his broken nose and mouth.

In general, he got it right. It happened so well that, of course, it is unlikely that anyone in the hall before the announcement of the judges’ scores could without hesitation point to the winner. One of the referees considered it Tszyu, giving him the win with a score of 116:112. On the other two maps Fundora took the upper hand – 116:112 and 115:113. And this, it seems, is exactly the situation when the verdict, having instantly turned into a topic for discussion, cannot be characterized as controversial in the sense that is usually included in such a definition. It’s just that, no matter how much you argue, you cannot determine which outcome would be fair.

What is clear is that a fair and logical continuation of the fight would be a rematch. But with him, everything is not so obvious, because immediately after the end of the fight, the famous American welterweight Errol Spence climbed into the ring and challenged Fundora to a fight. As a rule, such exits are not improvisation invented on the fly.

Alexey Dospehov