U.S. Olympian and super welterweight contender Terrell Gausha is confident that he’ll be spoiling the stateside debut of unbeaten rising star Tim Tszyu when they square off on Saturday, March 26 live on SHOWTIME® headlining a Premier Boxing Champions event from The Armory in Minneapolis.
“We’ve been working on some different things for this fight,” said Gausha. “We’re going to give Tim Tszyu a different look than he’s seen before. Compared to most of the fights that everyone has seen, they’re going to see something new from me on March 26.”
Tszyu, the son of Hall of Fame fighter Kostya Tszyu, will be making his much-anticipated debut in the U.S. against Gausha, after dominating his first 20 fights in his native Australia. For the Cleveland native Gausha, his motivation comes from within and not from the hype surrounding Tszyu entering this matchup.
“I’m just motivated period,” said Gausha. “It’s got nothing to do with any hype around Tszyu. It has everything to do with where I’m at in my life and my career. Things are happening at the right time for me. I’m in a good place. This is the perfect fight for me at this point in my career.
“I appreciate him for taking this challenge. Most other fighters would try to protect their record. This shows that he believes in himself. He wants the tough fights. That being said, I think he took the wrong fight.”
Gausha scored an impressive knockout over young contender Jamontay Clark in his last fight, stopping his opponent in round two in March 2021, and will look to build on that triumph against a bigger name in Tszyu.
“That was a good fight for me against Clark,” said Gausha. “I wanted to get right back in the ring, but sometimes it’s hard to make fights with certain guys. I have a great opportunity against Tszyu and I’m looking to capitalize and build off of my last performance. I’m going to make an even bigger splash in this fight.”
Training in Los Angeles with Manny Robles and Prenice Brewer, Gausha has received excellent sparring leading up to fight night, having shared the ring with 154-pound champion Brian Castaño, welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz and 2020 U.S. Olympian Delante Johnson. While Gausha expects Tszyu to display his typical come forward style, he plans to be ready for anything that his opponent presents.
“I expect Tim to try to bring pressure and come forward,” said Gausha. “He’s a one-trick pony. What you see is what you get. He doesn’t do too many things spectacularly, but what he does do well, he does it very well, and that’s bring the pressure. We have something ready for that and we’re going to do our thing no matter what he tries to do.”
Gausha previously challenged for the 154-pound world title in losing a 2017 decision against Erislandy Lara and also owns a decision defeat to Erickson Lubin and a draw against former champion Austin Trout. Now, Gausha will look to catapult himself right back into the title picture with a victory on March 26.
“After everyone sees this performance on March 26, they’re going to know where I fit into this division,” said Gausha. “I’ve got a job to do. Right now, I’m really just starting to show people my skills and what I can do. This is going to solidify that. I’m knocking on the door of a title fight right now. A win over Tszyu would be great for my career and get me to the world titles.”
