One of the biggest grudge matches in the recent history of Australian boxing is officially set.
Second-generation boxer Tim Tszyu and former welterweight titlist Jeff Horn both made weight for their heavily hyped junior middleweight showdown Wednesday evening at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in the coastal city of Townsville, Australia.
Rockdale’s Tszyu hit the scales at a fit and trim 152.3 pounds, a near-career lightest weight for the 25-year old rising contender. Horn reportedly made a quick trip to the sauna before arriving at the scale at a dried out 153.4 pounds for his fourth fight outside of his title reign.
The bout will air live on Australia Main Event as well as on ESPN+ in the United States (5:00am ET). An estimated socially distanced crowd of 16,000 is expected to attend the much-celebrated affair.
Tszyu (15-0, 11KOs) fights for the first time since a 4th round knockout of Jack Brubaker last December, which capped a productive 2019 campaign. The son of Hall of Fame former lineal junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu has come into his own as a junior middleweight contender on the rise, though forced to wait more than eight months for his next ring adventure.
It proved to be worth the wait, as a firestorm of publicity has surrounded Wednesday’s clash versus Horn which for Tszyu marks his most notable challenge to date.
Horn (20-2-1, 13KOs) comes in weighing his lightest since his brief stay as a welterweight titlist. The 32-year old from Brisbane was an unbeaten contender on the rise by the time he welcomed legendary Manny Pacquiao to Australia for their well-received July 2017 title fight. The night ended in shock and dispute, as Horn claimed a questionable 12-round unanimous decision win in a massive upset, claiming a welterweight title in the process.
Just one defense came of the reign before suffering a one-sided 9th round stoppage loss to unbeaten pound-for-pound entrant Terence Crawford in June 2018. The bout was his last at welterweight, having since campaigned in the middleweight division. His first fight also came in an all-Aussie grudge match, scoring a 1st round knockout over what was left of Anthony Mundine by the time they met in November 2018.
Horn was one fight away from a crack at secondary middleweight titlist Ryota Murata before watching those plans burst in flames. All that was needed was to get past countryman Michael Zerafa, who massively spoiled in the party in scoring an upset 9th round stoppage last August in Bendigo. Horn returned home for revenge, twice flooring Zerafa en route to a 10-round decision last December in South Brisbane.
Controversy has already entered the equation more than 30 hours ahead of the opening bell. A dispute has arisen over the assigned judges for the contest, according to Sydney Morning Herald’s Phil Hutton.
Allegations were made by Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton that judge Chris Condon was a former member of Team Tszyu. Meanwhile, it has also come to light of Philip Holiday—a former lightweight titlist from the 1990s and now an active ringside official—openly discussing the possibility of Tszyu winning the fight via cuts.
Both matters have been raised with the onsite supervisor as well as the World Boxing Organization, the latter who has a regional title at stake for the 12-round main event. All originally assigned officials are still scheduled to work the bout as this goes to publish.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox