Tim Tszyu shuts down Brian Mendoza to retain WBO title

Being the son of a legend is never an easy feat. For WBO light middleweight champion Tim Tszyu (24-0, 17 KOs),is doing the job with ease thus far in his career. Sunday morning Tszyu added another chapter to his own legacy by defending his title by a unanimous decision against a very game Brian Mendoza (22-3, 16 KOs).

Sydney’s Tszyu relied on various right hands, nearly knocking Mendoza out in the 11th round. Mendoza has been credited as an exciting knockout artist with sneaky power. Mendoza did some good things; he displayed an iron chin and hard-hitting ability. However, Tszyu strung together more consistent rounds. Judges Steve Gray (116-112), Adam Height (116-111) and Katsuhiko Nakamura (117-111) all scored their fight for Tszyu by reasonable distances.

Tszyu hurt Mendoza with a right hand that made Mendoza stagger with 40 seconds to go. In the 10th round. Tszyu stopped punching about 10 seconds later because he said Mendoza hit him low, but he resumed his punishment and landed a vicious right uppercut toward the end of the 10th round.

Tsyzu, 28, continues to stack quality wins which is putting him next in line for a mega fight. Tsyzu called out Jermel Charlo after his victory. Tszyu said he was ready to prove who was the best at 154. Tsyzu was elevated to full junior middleweight champion by the WBO on September 30, when it stripped Charlo of one of his four championships because Charlo moved up two weight classes to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound crowns at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The two kingpins at 154 have been scheduled to fight before but Charlo broke his hand in training and then decided to move up to challenge Canelo after today’s results. It's most certainly a mega fight that could happen next year as Terrence Crawford could loom in the background as well. Boxing's 154-pound division is looking rather stacked at this point.