Showtime Boxing results, highlights: Tim Tszyu viciously stops Tony

Fighting in the shadow of both his Hall of Fame father and his division’s undisputed champion, unbeaten junior middleweight Tim Tszyu used Saturday’s return against Tony Harrison to send a message. 

Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) relied on poise and deliberate pressure to slowly break down Harrison (29-4-1, 21 KOs) before punctuating the biggest win of his career with a brutal stoppage late. The 9th-round TKO, held inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, saw Tszyu capture the WBO interim title and secure a shot at junior middleweight king Jermell Charlo’s four world titles. 

After the fight, Tszyu put a resounding exclamation point on his statement by regaling his home crowd with an impassioned speech. 

“I’ve got one sentence: what’s my motherf—ing name?” Tszyu said. “This is what the f— this is all about, every single one of you. What’s my motherf—ing name? Say my motherf—ing name!”

The 28-year-old Tszyu was originally scheduled to face Charlo in January until a left hand injury forced the champion to withdraw. Tszyu chose to stay busy instead against the 32-year-old Harrison, a former WBC champion, who remains the only fighter to have defeated Charlo. 

With Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) watching from a New York studio as a special guest on the Showtime Boxing International telecast, Tszyu returned a much more efficient and composed fighter than last March, when he was dropped in the opening round against Terrell Gausha in his U.S. debut before battling back to claim a hard-fought decision. 

Tszyu staggered Harrison halfway across the ring in Round 3 with a looping counter right hand that forced Harrison into a defensive posture for the remainder of the fight. Tszyu was not only able to pin Harrison against the ropes with ease, he held his distance patiently enough to prevent his opponent from exiting. 

In Round 9, Harrison’s walls finally began to crumble as a trio of…