The Sons Continue to Rise: Tim Tszyu and Conor Benn
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 09 Nov 2021
Tim Tszyu (L) and Conor Benn (R) fighting sons respectively of boxing greats Kostya Tszyu and Nigel Benn continue in their march for the world title one division apart and, if it is in their stars, a possible future confrontation.
Right now, the two are separated by mere seven pounds with the younger Tszyu fighting at the heavier super welterweight and the younger Benn campaigning at the more stocked welterweight class.
Tim, older by two years at 29 and started prizefighting earlier in 2016 is more advanced, career wise, as he is nearer to a world title crack at 154 lbs being rated at top four in his division. But Conor, 27, is not far behind having cracked the welterweight rankings with four major fights and wins in two years despite the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Tim (19-0, 17 KOs) takes on Japanese champion Takeshi Inoue on November 17 in his native Australia in defense of his WBO Asia Pacific super welterweight belt. He is girding for another impressive win that would solidify his mandatory challenger status to Argentine Brian Castano who is the WBO champion.
Rising welterweight star Conor Benn (19-0, 12 KOs) will face former world champion Chris Algieri (25-3, 9 KOs) at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Saturday December 11, live worldwide on DAZN.
Benn is eagerly looking forward to the match saying: “We expect Algieri to bring his best, but I want him deep in the trenches with me, I want to use this opportunity to display my skills and ability against a quality fighter to prepare me and take another step closer to a world title. A former world champ vs. a very, very hungry contender, I can’t wait for December 11.”
Conor is coming off impressive wins over Adrian Granados (UD), Samuel Vargas (KO1) and Samuel Formella (UD) that enabled him to crash the world ranking in the loaded welterweight division.
He is girding for another emphatic victory against the seasoned Algieri, best known for his fights versus Ruslan Provodnikov, Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence years back, to improve his standing and buttress his bid for a title fight next year.
Meanwhile, ahead of his fight with Inoue, Tim Tszyu laments the lack of activity among modern champions and hopes to emulate his legendary father Kostya by unifying the belts and he’s not fussed how many opponents he needs to go through.
"Winning each title one by one will be much more satisfying than taking it away from just one. Why? Because you have to beat everyone in the division,” Tszyu said.
In Inoue, no relations to bantamweight king Naoya Inoue, Tim is facing his most credentialed opponent since his knockout of former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn. Inoue is ranked #7 by the WBO and had just one loss in 17 bouts, dropping a points decision to Mexico's undefeated middleweight Jaime Mungia in a failed WBO super welterweight title bid in 2019.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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