Tszyu cleared of serious injury after Russian beat-down
Tim Tszyu has initially been cleared of any serious trauma but has delayed his return to Australia to recover from his brutal beat-down in Florida.
Tszyu was left heavily concussed from his battering at the hands of ruthless Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev in Saturday night’s (Sunday AEDT) IBF super-welterweight mismatch.
Tszyu’s brother Nikita eventually threw in the towel midway through the third round after Australian boxing’s golden boy was sent crashing to the canvas four times at the Caribe Royal resort in Orlando.
As Team Tszyu pondered the fallen world champion’s next move, No Limit Boxing boss Matt Rose said the 29-year-old’s health and welfare must come first.
“Most importantly, he’s woken up OK,” Rose told AAP on Monday.
“Probably more than anything is the mental process of going back what happened last night.
“Physically, he’s a lot better today. Obviously had a concussion last night, but he went to hospital – we wanted him to go for precautionary reasons.
“He was OK from that point of view so he’ll rest up for a couple of days now.
“Once he gets back to Australia, we’ll do some more testing to make sure he’s OK.
“The most important thing when you’re in fights like that is to ensure you do the right checks-ups.”
As speculation already swirled that Tszyu would finally settle his differences in a grudge match with fellow Australian Michael Zerafa, Rose said it was far too early to make a call on his charge’s next move.
“I’m not a doctor. I can’t answer those questions,” Rose said when asked if the Sydney slayer needed an extended lay-off before entering the ring again.
“It will be purely up to where Tim’s at and from a medical point of view when he can fight next.
“I’m not sure.”
Tszyu’s mother Natasha wants her son to spend time in Russia to undertake a gruelling Soviet-style training camp after watching him stray from his trademark methodical boxing against the power-punching Murtazaliev.
Tszyu’s legendary father Kostya was ringside in Florida to watch his son fight live for the first time in eight years.
But asked if Kostya had expressed any interest in taking on a more hands-on role with Tszyu’s training, Rose said that wasn’t his decision amid calls for the former WBO strap holder to tinker with his entourage.
“That would be totally up to Tim,” Rose said.
“I don’t get involved in the training aspect of things. Obviously his trainers’ training and what they’ve done has been exceptional right up to this and I thought, physically, Tim was fine last night in terms of how he turned up.
“He looked great. He said it was the best he’d ever felt.
“We’re in a hard game. It’s boxing. Tim’s got to get punched in the face or punched in the head and sometimes things go wrong.
“Last night was one those things where he got caught and couldn’t recover.
“He showed great bravery and, to be honest, there’s no other fighter like him.
“He’s a true warrior.”
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