ESPN picks up Horn-Tszyu clash

Former welterweight world champion and Manny Pacquiao conqueror Jeff “The Hornet” Horn will face Tim Tszyu in a 10-round junior middleweight bout Wednesday, Aug. 26, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, Australia. A socially distanced crowd of more than 16,000 fans are expected for Horn-Tszyu, which will headline a special edition of Breakfast and Boxing exclusively on ESPN+ (5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT).

Horn (20-2-1, 13 KOs), from Brisbane, toppled Pacquiao in July 2017 via unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight world title. Horn-Pacquiao, the Top Rank on ESPN series premier, peaked at 4.4 million viewers. Horn defended his title once before losing via ninth-round stoppage to Terence “Bud” Crawford in June 2018. He is 2-1 since the Crawford loss, most recently splitting a pair of action classics against countryman Michael Zerafa in 2019.

Tszyu (15-0, 11 KO), the Sydney-born son of legendary former world champion Kostya Tszyu, returns from a nearly nine-month layoff. He graduated from prospect to contender in 2019, closing out the year in December with a fourth-round TKO over Jack Brubaker that streamed live on ESPN+.

The Horn-Tszyu stream will also include unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Liam Wilson (6-0, 4 KOs) against Jackson Woods (4-1-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-rounder, former Australian 154-pound champion Joel Camilleri (18-6-1, 8 KOs) versus Adam Copland (5-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-round middleweight bout, and Australian middleweight prospect Issac “The Headsplitter” Hardman (6-0, 5 KOs ) against seven-year veteran Jamie Weetch (12-3, 5 KOs) in a six-rounder.

Top Rank also announced two more ESPN+ boxing streams.

The action continues the same day as Horn-Tszyu at 2 p.m. ET, as MTK Global returns with a closed-door card from Production Park Studios in Wakefield, England. In the 10-round main event, Belfast’s Lewis “The Croc” Crocker (11-0, 6 KOs) will battle Louis Greene (12-1, 7 KOs) for the vacant WBO European welterweight title.

In other action on the Crocker-Greene stream, British and Commonwealth bantamweight champion Lee McGregor (8-0, 6 KOs) moves up to junior featherweight to fight Ryan Walker (11-1, 2 KOs) in a 10-rounder; junior welterweight prospect Gary Cully (10-0, 5 KOs) takes on Craig Woodruff (10-5, 4 KOs) in an eight-round junior welterweight tilt; middleweight Fearghus Quinn turns pro in a six-rounder against Robbie Chapman (6-3, 0 KOs); and Darren Tetley (20-0, 9 KOs) fights Liam Taylor (21-1-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round British welterweight title eliminator.

On Sunday, August 23, MTK Global presents a special Sunday show live from Almaty, Kazakhstan, which will showcase the professional debut of former Kazakh amateur superstar Kamshybek Kunkabayev. The two-time World Championships silver medalist (2017 & 2019), will make his professional debut in an eight-round cruiserweight bout against Issa Akberbayev (20-1, 15 KOs). Kunkabayev also won a pair of Asian Championships silver medals, while Akberbayev, a 6-foot-3 puncher who currently resides in Almaty, hopes to rebound from his first career defeat.

The scheduled five-fight stream kicks off on ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT and also includes:

Lightweight contender Viktor Kotochigov (11-0, 4 KOs), who defended the WBC International belt last December, will fight Belarusian veteran Andrei Isayeu (30-17, 9 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
In an eight-round junior middleweight bout, 2019 Asian Championships gold medalist and 2019 World Championships bronze medalist Tursynbay Kulakhmet will make his pro debut against former amateur star Sagadat Rakhmankul (6-1, 4 KOs), who has won three consecutive fights since his lone pro defeat.

In an eight-round clash of undefeated middleweights, Abay Tolesh (5-0, 3 KOs) will take on southpaw Saparbay Aidarov (4-0, 2 KOs).

Nurtas Azhbenov (9-0, 4 KOs), who has won three of his last four via first-round stoppage, will fight Shovkat Khalilov (7-2, 1 KO) in an eight-rounder at junior welterweight.

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  • Why people always drag Pacquiao’s name when they mention or trying to sell horn fights? Manny Pacquiao conqueror my sweet ass.. he was just a sacrificial lamb by Bob Arum so that Crawford can get the belt easy pezzy, now that he serve his purpose look where he is now? and look where is Manny now, trying to drag his good name..

  • You can at least mention Horn got an extremely controversial decision. Boxing stats prove Manny won the Boxing match. Horn won the head butting head locking match. It much more.

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