Tim Tszyu Continues His Wave of Destruction; Blasts out Late Sub Steve Spark

Tim Tszyu entered Wednesday’s match with Steve Spark in excellent form. In his last three matches he had run roughshod over Jeff Horn (TKO 8), Bowyn Morgan (TKO 1) and Dennis Hogan (TKO 5). Tonight, at the Newcastle Entertainment Center in New South Wales where his famous father had fought seven times, Tszyu continued his wave of destruction while acquiring the vacant Commonwealth (British Empire) junior middleweight title. He blasted out intrepid Steve Spark, ending the fight in the third round with a pair of thudding left hooks to the body.

The outcome wasn’t unexpected. Although Spark, a 24-year-old Toowoomba, Queensland bartender, had won 10 straight, elevating his record to 12-1 (11), he had fought all but one of his fights at 140 and accepted the bout on seven days notice after Michael Zerafa pulled out while expressing legitimate concerns about tightened Covid restrictions. (Australia, which once appeared to have conquered the coronavirus, has been slammed by a new wave, this the Delta variant. Owing to a shortage of vaccine, only about 20 percent of the population has been vaccinated.)

Spark was feisty in the opening round, but Tszyu quickly took the starch out of him. The official time was 2:22. To this point, the Aussie of Russian ancestry has fought exclusively in his home country, but he is expected to take his act overseas and fight a name opponent before he challenges the winner of next week’s unification fight between 154-pound title holders Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano. In his post-fight interview, he threw out the name Danny Garcia. If that fight materializes, Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) would be favored, even on Garcia’s turf in Philadelphia.

Other Bouts of Note

There was an upset in the co-feature when Filipino junior lightweight Joe Noynay dominated Liam Wilson, scoring four knockdowns before the bout was halted in the fifth frame. A six-time Australian Golden Gloves champion who was 9-0 (6) heading in, Wilson was moving up in class but was expected to handily defeat his Filipino opponent who was making his first start in 19 months and had been made to quarantine for 14 days when his plane touched down in Australia. Noynay improved to 19-2-2 (8 KOs).

In an 8-round welterweight bout, Sam Ah See made a triumphant return to the ring with a first-round demolition of Czar Amonsot.

An Indigenous Australian who was once considered a rising star in Antipodean boxing, Ah See unexpectedly walked away from the sport in 2017, frustrated over small paydays and expressing a desire to spend more time with his family. Prior to his walk-out, he had been training in Los Angeles under Justin Fortune who had assisted Freddie Roach in training Manny Pacquiao.

Now 30 years old, Ah See walked right through Amonsot, a 17-year-pro who brought a 35-5-3 record. This is the same Amonsot who was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma (brain bleed) after his 2007 fight in Las Vegas with Michael Katsidis. He came to Australia a year later and has lived here ever since, never returning to his native Philippines.

Midway through the opening round, Ah See, who improved to 14-0-1 (7), put Amonsot down with a flurry of punches, the first punch in the sequence a powerful left uppercut. Amonsot beat the count but was in no shape to continue and the referee quickly intervened.

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