Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu are set to square off for an all-Oceania, super welterweight showdown Wednesday at Australia’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.
Horn (20-2-1, 13 KO) won the welterweight crown in 2017 in a disputed decision against Manny Pacquiao and has since competed as a middleweight after dropping his title to Terence Crawford in 2018.
For the 10-round fight against Tszyu (15-0, 11 KO), Horn is dialing it down a division to compete at 154.
At a press conference Monday, Horn said he was surprised to learn that Tszyu was within 500g of the 70kg mark 24 hours prior to Tuesday's weigh-in.
"I think it's silly. I don't know if he's lying, but telling me he's only 70.5kg ... I'll be throwing him around like a rag doll if he's that light," said Horn, per the Australian Associated Press. "It's a massive size difference. I can't believe him ... how crazy to [already] be 70.5 for a 69.85 fight."
Tszyu countered and said that much should not be made about his weight.
"I'll be even heavier [than Horn], let's say that," said Tszyu. "Rag doll, what's that mean? If he wants to play those games, we will play those games as well. It's quite simple. It's a fight. We're not ballerinas in there. He's going to be punching me. I'm going to be punching him, of course. He's not going to be patting my head.”
The son of Hall of Fame boxer Kostya Tszyu (31-2, 25 KOs) is stepping up for the biggest test of his career, yet, some sportsbooks still have the 25-year-old, four-year pro as the betting favorite over the veteran 32-year-old.
The 2012 Olympian Horn has a 56.5% career KO clip, but he’s not going out of his way to predict that Tszyu will finish the fight on his back.
"I don't want to ever say I'm going to knock a guy out," Horn said. "I've got a lot of respect for his family. His dad's an absolute legend. ... It's going to be a very tough fight and an even tougher fight for Tim Tszyu."
The down under encounter will be streamed on ESPN+ beginning at 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com.
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