Tim Tszyu vs. Tony Harrison: Former champ whacks Tszyu’s ‘f***ing disgusting’ resume
Tony Harrison has called the level of competition Tim Tszyu faces “bloody disgusting” ahead of the pair’s interim WBO super welterweight world title fight next Sunday in Sydney.
The comments come in response to Tszyu’s claims that American fighters disrespect their Australian counterparts.
Tszyu, unbeaten in 21 professional fights, has worked his way up to mandatory contender for the WBO title, but Harrison, who previously held the WBC strap at 154 pounds, has criticized the quality of his previous opponents.
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The 32-year-old American, who has a professional record of 29-3-1, doubled on Thursday but denied it was due to a lack of respect for Australian boxers.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the US or Australia, I just think it stems from the competition he faces,” Harrison said The sports news.
“His father faced American after American after American.
“We’re just talking about Tim and, Tim, the opponents you faced sucked.
“We only judge you by the guys you fought, not you [being] from Australia but only fighting the guys you fought from Australia and the guys you fought to get to number one is bloody disgusting.”
There is no doubt that Harrison’s resume, which consists of fights one and one over two with undisputed champion Jermell Charlo, is stronger than Tszyu’s but the Aussie is confident he can prove in front of his home crowd next weekend becomes that he is up to the standard.
“They don’t respect us,” Tszyu said The sports news.
“They think we’re bums, they think we have these padded plates, but we don’t.
“We are good fighters out here. We’re not short of skill, and we have a lot of dedication in us.
“It will feel good if [Harrison] thinks he’s with a simple boxer who just moves forward – we in America talk we are [Australians] only basic that we lack skills, we are just all hardness. That’s wrong.
“We have great skills here, we have great talent here and we are here to shock the world.”
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When asked about his assessment of Tszyu’s skills on Thursday, Harrison said there were many loopholes to exploit.
“Everyone has habits, everyone has bad spots,” he said.
“I think you can see that in every fighter, but I see a lot of bad things about Tim, a lot of things he does isn’t championship-level shit.”
As for his game plan for the upcoming fight night, Harrison has told anyone who will listen that he is in for a few surprises.
“I don’t think you can understand my game plan exactly,” he said.
“To be honest, I don’t even know my game plan yet.
“Like I’ve told everyone, expect the unexpected.
“It will be played round after round, I will find a way to win every round.”