Tim Tszyu Believes Most Fighters Would Have Quit, Credits Brian Mendoza Toughness

Tim Tszyu was surprised Brian Mendoza didn’t go down or get knocked out.

Tszyu was defending his WBO light middleweight title for the first time, after being promoted following him being promoted from the interim champ. He was the betting favorite over Mendoza in Australia and many expected him to cruise to a win.

Tim Tszyu did just that as he beat Brian Mendoza by decision, but he was shocked Mendoza didn’t go down with an injury.

“I thought he was out,” Tszyu said during their post-fight press conference (h/t BoxingScene). “Like I could hear his breathing. He was like, no offense, but he was like moaning and doing all these weird noises in one of the rounds. And I was like, man, how is he still standing? I was landing all these uppercuts and yeah, he’s got a heart, that’s for sure, you know? A lot of fighters would’ve quit. That’s facts, you know? Facts. … That’s why I gave him so much respect, because I knew he was a warrior and he had that warrior mentality. He was gonna – he said it himself, kill or be killed. And he shows that.”

Ultimately, with the win, Tim Tszyu is now the champ for real as his promoter George Rose was nervous but was thrilled with the win.

“Look, I absolutely loved it. I thought it was a great Tim Tszyu performance. It’s again different to what we’ve seen his last few fights and something that was super impressive, too,” George Rose said. “I think for everyone that was sitting there watching tonight, you can see how dangerous Brian Mendoza was. And we all talked about his power leading up to the fight. And every time he threw one of them big punches, I think everyone held their breath for a moment, and you’d see Tim just shake it off and keep walking forward and stick to the plan and we absolutely love it. But again, what Tim said, full respect to Mendoza. I don’t know how he kept walking after some of them hits.”

Who would you like to see Tim Tszyu fight next?