The world of boxing is filled with catchy headlines about Tim Tszyu’s courage, big heart and warrior nature.
Traditionally that’s the language of compensation that we give to the loser of a big fight, but in the case of Tim Tszyu, we already knew that he was all those things! And in fact, more as he has proven himself time and time again over his career.
In this case, his WBC/WBO Unification fight against Sebastian Fundora was marred with some bad luck that saw Tszyu receive a devastating head gash right on the bell at the end of round 2. High up on his forehead, the blood was gushing into Tszyu’s eyes literally blinding him on the dominant side against a left-handed southpaw.
Prior to that, Tszyu was very much in control of the fight right out of the gate with a series of 5 clear head shots that all landed very clean. The first was mentioned by one of the commentators as throwing Fundora’s head back like a `Pez Dispenser’.
Tszyu remained strong in the 3rd round and was certainly heroic to continue the same energy of attack whilst Fundora as looking very pensive at that point. However, as the round continued, it became clear to Fundora that Tszyu was blinded and could not see. Tszyu could not see the punches coming at him NOR could be see the opportunities for his big right hand. This was reminiscent of “Rocky 2” where the lead Sylvester Stallone character, Rocky Balboa, is being told by his coach that he cannot fight because he has impaired vision in his right eye following retinal detachment surgery from a wound received in the previous film. He is told by Burgess Meredith who played coach and manager Mickey Goldmill, that the opponent’s fist will cross half of his face before he sees it.
Tim was in a similar position as Fundora’s jabs would continue from that same side.
So yes, there was an element of bad luck that Tszyu suffered that head gash. However, these things were all in the perception and interpretation of people in that moment. Could it have been good luck instead? We know that Tszyu was given only 12 days to prepare for that fight which may or may not have been enough. Could it have been an opportunity to give Tszyu a time-out? To be honest, it was clear from the first few rounds that Tszyu had things very much under control, so he had enough preparation, and he would have won if not for the wound.
In any case however, the sport of Boxing is quite mature given it dates back to 688BC in Ancient Greece! Anything that can happen in a ring has been seen before and the rules evolved to provide the fighters the absolute best chance of a fair and just fight!
The Tszyu team could have called for a NO-CONTEST if the officials themselves didn’t.
A No Contest rule in boxing refers to the situation where a fight is stopped, usually due to some unforeseen circumstances, before a winner is declared. In other words, no winner is declared, and the bout does not count as a win, loss or draw for either fighter. It is designed to protect the fighter, or both, from things outside their control.
A No-Contest can be called for reasons that include fighter injury due to an accidental foul, a ring malfunction that affects the outcome of the bout, or an illegal action by one of the fighters, among others. Essentially, any situation that renders the continuation of the fight impossible or unfair may lead to a no contest.
A good example of Non-Contest occurred on August 28, 1998, where Bernard Hopkins fought Robert Allen in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The fight was ruled a no contest when Hopkins was injured after he was accidentally pushed out of the ring by referee Mills Lane as Lane was trying to break up a clinch.
And there are many more through the years.
There is no question that the wound suffered by Tszyu qualifies as an accidental injury that affected his ability to continue in a fair fight. It was clear from observing the first two rounds in comparison to the later part of Round 3 and beyond. Tszyu was clearly slower and acting more from reflex rather than true reaction to the situation.
So the question remains, should Tim Tszyu have been allowed to continue in the state that he was in given the injury he sustained? Should Tim Tszyu’s management have called a No-Contest?
It would have been a much smarter play for Team Tszyu 2 to call a No-Contest to stop the fight. Then take the time required to properly heal whilst preparing for a rescheduled match against Fundora. This would have preserved Tszyu’s undefeated record and would have placed a pause on the unification title until such time as the two can come together again.
A fighter with the caliber of Tszyu deserves a good management team and his corner needs to consider if they need to review the staff who are on duty in the corner and whether they need to add or make changes to ensure that the right talent is there to support Tim at all times and for any situation.
This opinion is also shared by others with credibility;
Former unified light heavyweight world champion Andre Ward said the fight should have been called a no contest. “I think it could have been stopped multiple times, throughout the course of the fight,” Ward said. “Just because of the way the blood came out and the fact the corner was not able to stop the cut. I thought it was pretty profound that Tim Tszyu did fight through that. “If Tim says one wrong word ‘I can’t see’, ‘I’m struggling to see’, ‘something’s not right’, the doctor has an obligation to stop the fight immediately and take the fighter out of danger.”
The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel said he believed it should have been stopped after three rounds. “Look at the gaping wound — that surely effected Tim,” Badel said.“I think they should have stopped it. It’s disappointing because we love the fight we saw at the end, it was 12 rounds, it was magnificent theatre but Tim was badly effected.”
Tony Harrison, who Tszyu defeated last year wrote: “If I’m Tim’s corner in round 3 I complain to the ref about the blood get the fight stop and have a genuine camp for Fundora.”
Aussie champion Billy Dib said: “This is ridiculous. This fight needs to be stopped. The amount of blood being lost is dangerous.”
Australia boxing commentator Ben Damon commented: “No point having a doctor if they aren’t willing to stop a fight when one man has been hit by an axe. Unbelievable this wasn’t stopped at the end of 2.”
Below are full fight highlights with thanks to Fox Sports.
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