By Anthony Cocks
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim ‘Phoenix’ Tszyu (26-3, 18 KOs) made a successful return to the ring, scoring a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Anthony Velasquez (18-1-1, 15 KOs) at the TikTok Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday night.
Tszyu, who had lost three of his past four outings going into the bout, was having his first fight under his new team led by coach Pedro Diaz. It proved to be a successful pairing. While there were no significant changes to Tszyu’s technique, it was Tszyu’s patience that stood out. As for the fight itself, it was all one-way traffic. Tszyu, 31, was able to hit the previously undefeated Velasquez almost at will. The Australian mixed up his shots well, attacking Velasquez with both hands to the body and head. By the close of the sixth, the end looked imminent when Velasquez returned to his corner with his face spattered in blood courtesy of a wide cut to his left cheekbone. But the 29-year-old American refused to fold. Clearly outgunned, he kept trying to land his winging shots without success. Tszyu worked him over, round after round, until the final bell.The scorecards reflected the one-sided nature of the fight. Judges John Cauchi and Andrew Lazich both saw the bout 100-90, while judge Charlie Lucas had it 100-91.
“I really just wanted to feel comfortable in there,” Tszyu said in the ring after the fight. I wanted to get in the ring, not try go for the KO and get reckless. In the past, that’s what actually came wrong by me. I wanted to take my time, use my jab. I have all the skills in the
world, I just need to apply them. I had a game opponent today and a scorecard of 10 rounds, I’m pretty happy with that. He came out swinging to the very end. He’s got pop, so I didn’t want to come in and cop one.”
In the main support bout, former world title challenger Sam ‘The Ghost’ Goodman (21-1, 8 KOs) looked sharp in his 10-round unanimous decision victory over Tyler ‘The Wizard’ Blizzard (10-1, 4 KOs). Boxing for just the second time at featherweight following his competitive loss to WBA 126-pound champ Nick Ball in August, Goodman looked comfortable in his new weight class. The 27-year-old displayed fast hands, quick feet and a withering body attack to claim the victory by scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91. “I’m happy to be back winning,” said Goodman post-fight. “He’s hard to deal with. I knew he’d be awkward to break down.”
