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The more undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo sits out while recovering from a hand injury that has twice postponed his mandatory defense against unbeaten Tim Tszyu, the scarier the native of Australia continues to grow.
Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) returned home Saturday to score his second thunderous knockout in three months, this time dispatching the durable Carlos Ocampo in just 77 seconds inside the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeech.
“I’ve got a question for everyone here: What’s my motherf—ing name?” Tszyu said. “Surely they all know now.”
The post-fight comments from Tszyu, the 28-year-old son of Hall-of-Famer Kostya Tszyu, echoed the ones he made following a March TKO of Tony Harrison, the only fighter to defeat Charlo. Both performances were statement wins as Tszyu continues to put the division on notice while staying busy amid Charlo’s extended recovery.
Tszyu made the first defense of his interim WBO title and seemed to take delight in finishing Ocampo (36-3, 23 KOs) faster than Charlo’s stablemate Errol Spence Jr. did when he defended his welterweight title in 2018 via first-round knockout at 3:00.
“I did it quicker than your boy, man, so get your hand healed and let’s dance,” Tszyu said. “The big one is coming up and that’s where I’m going. That’s where I will be. I’ve got this interim belt but I’m not satisfied, I want all four. And it’s not just the belts, I want the name Charlo on my resume.
“It has got me possessed. I feel like a pitbull now and there’s no stopping this.”
Ocampo, a 27-year-old native of Mexico, landed just three punches against Tszyu and was never in the fight as his lack of defense was exposed off the start. An overly aggressive Tszyu landed a clean two-punch combination in the opening seconds before hurting Ocampo with a big left hook.
After pinning Ocampo to the ropes with another clean left hand, Tszyu broke him down in violent and efficient fashion. A left hook followed by a right hand dropped Ocampo before a leaping left hand would finish him off for good, leading referee Danrex Tapdasan to stop the fight without a count.
Ocampo had previously pushed former interim titleholder Sebastian Fundora for 12 hard rounds last October yet succumbed early to the clean, hard shots of Tszyu. Not only did Tszyu land 50% of the punches he threw against Ocampo, 10 of the 11 punches he landed were power shots.
“I didn’t think it would be that early because this guy is a warrior but it’s the Tim Tszyu era,” Tszyu said.