Too much power and pressure.
Tim Tszyu swore he drowned Tony Harrison in the ninth round and he did just that.
Tszyu threw several unanswered right uppercuts and dropped Harrison with a right hook to the temple to earn a ninth-round TKO and win the interim WBO junior middleweight championship at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Sunday.
Tszyu, 28 (22-0, 16 KOs) shouted “what’s my mom’s name?” in pure glee at the statement he sent to undisputed junior middleweight king Jermell Charlo, who was part of the Showtime broadcast team calling the fight.
“The message has been sent clearly,” Tszyu said in the ring in a statement aimed at Charlo, whom he will fight next. “You know what happens. You know what happens next. I’m coming to America!”
Charlo vowed that Tszyu wouldn’t be able to perform like he did against him on Sunday when the two face off with all four 154-pound world titles on the line.
“Man, I’m ready,” said Charlo whose injured left hand is still healing. “I’m a different animal in this. I’m a different fighter than Tony.”
After Harrison was able to assert his shot in the first round, Tszyu used consistent pressure and connected on 39% of his power shots en route to registering the ninth-round TKO.
Tszyu stunned Harrison with repeated right hooks to the temple before delivering six unanswered uppercuts and giving the American a taste of the canvas with a harsh right hook.
Although Harrison got up from the canvas on the eight count after the shot, the referee didn’t like his body language and ended the fight on the spot.