Tim Tszyu has engaged in a tense and prolonged staredown with Anthony Velazquez at Tuesday’s weigh-in ahead of his comeback fight in Australia.
The Aussie star returns to the ring on Wednesday night in Sydney facing the undefeated American knockout artist in a do-or-die showdown.
Tensions threatened to boil over after the pair made weight, with neither fighter keen to break away during an unusually long staredown.
Tszyu vs Velazquez | Wednesday 17 Dec from 7pm AEDT | Tim Tszyu looks for redemption as “The Phoenix” takes on undefeated American Anthony Velazquez in an attempt to reignite his career. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Tensions boil as fighter slaps opponent | 00:41
The American fighter eventually looked away towards the crowd as Tszyu continued to glare in his direction for several more seconds.
“I’m just really locked in,” Tszyu explained afterwards, before promising to produce “poetry” with his hands tomorrow night.
Host Ben Damon admitted he’d never seen Tszyu so focussed.
“That was intense wasn’t it? Tim just wouldn’t look away,” he said.
“Anthony Velazquez, he was done wasn’t he, he wanted to take off and rehydrate, but Tim Tszyu was fully focused and that was an intense Tim Tszyu.
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“I don’t think I’ve seen him do that before. I’ve seen him stare at guys, trying to out-will guys, but I don’t think I’ve seen that.”
Former world champ Liam Paro was impressed by what he saw out of Tszyu.
“He looks calm, relaxed and healthy,” he said.
“Quite frankly it’s do-or-die for Tim’s career.”
Elsewhere, tensions did boil over when Jason Fawcett and Marco Romeo weighed in ahead of their welterweight clash.
Tszyu rediscovering his love for boxing | 01:22
After a heated exchange of words, Fawcett slapped Romeo across the face before officials jumped in to separate the pair.
Both fighters could be heard hurling insults at each other as they were moved off the stage.
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